Hero Material
by MyNameIsEmma
Summary: What constitutes a hero? What exactly is a hero? Mariana Hadley had saved a lot of people in her time. She did not consider herself a hero. People expect grandeur, skill, flashing lights, cool names and dorky outfits. Mariana Hadley had none of that. But damn was she determined to be remembered. Even by just a few. Maybe someday by everyone.
1. Chapter 1: Going Places

What constitutes a hero? What exactly _is_ a hero?

People have different ideas of what makes a hero. Mariana Hadley had saved a lot of people in her time. She did not consider herself a hero. In a world where Tony Stark goes flying around in his Iron Man suit to save hundreds of people with his Stark Industries mini-missiles, 'hero' is a difficult title to live up to. People expect grandeur, skill, flashing lights, cool names and dorky outfits.

Mariana Hadley had none of that. Mariana Hadley had 36 bucks to her name, two outfits and no official place to call home. But damn was she determined to be remembered. Even by just a few.

Maybe someday by everyone.

. . .

This wasn't part of the plan.

This was most definitely _not_ part of the plan. The well thought out, excellently executed plan. It was never part of the plan. She just wanted a free bed to sleep in for the night, maybe a shower before she moved on. It had never been part of the plan for three black SUVs to pull up outside the hotel at 3am.

Nor was it part of the plan for about a dozen men with tactical gear and guns to spill out into the deserted lobby, or for one of the doors down the hall to be kicked in, or for the single occupant to be dragged out in cuffs.

The man looked to be in his mid-forties, though Mariana didn't have a great vantage point from her position hiding behind the wall, watching him be dragged in the other direction. He was kicking and cursing out at the tactical team in a language she did not recognise.

Mariana had to get out of there, quickly. She knew that the minute she woke up to shouting from the hallway. But the second the man's hands began to glow with a bright flame and the team in tactical gear reacted like they saw it every day, tranquillising him and hefting him up over the shoulder in a fireman's carry was the second she knew what was going on.

She couldn't leave without her shoes though, which were back in her room. So she concentrated quickly and found herself back in the room. In her haste to put her shoes on though, she knocked over the lamp by the bed. Mariana froze as the hallway went silent. One foot in the air, left hand tugging the battered old converse on as slow footsteps approached her open hotel room door.

She should have gone right that second. She should have thought of the Bahamas, Paris, New Jersey, anywhere. Anywhere but that god-damn hotel room. Anywhere but her position of immediate danger. But like a stupid cliché, her panic and indecision kept Mariana frozen in her spot until the first black-clad gun-wielding tactical agent entered her room.

Then she was moving. Her shoe was finally on and her feet were planted on the ground at the same time as a shot was fired from the agent's gun. The tranquilliser dart stung like hell when it planted itself in her thigh and she knew she'd be out in seconds just like the other guy. So she finally thought of somewhere.

She thought of home.

Which explains why she woke up five hours later with a killer headache in a DC alleyway a few blocks from the park she played at as a kid.

It took the better part of ten minutes to convince her body it was in full working order and to make her legs co-operate so she could actually stand up. When, finally, on her feet Mariana knew just where to go for the throbbing pain in her skull. Marti's diner was about a block from her impromptu napping place and their milkshakes were the cure to every ailment.

So only after an hour, a tough walk, and an amazing milkshake could Mariana Hadley find it in herself to acknowledge her home city. Once she'd done that she wanted to be as far from there as possible.

But a dark skinned man with a leather coat and an eye-patch had other ideas.

He just had to get shot at.

Nick Fury was not the first person Mariana Hadley had used her abilities to save. He was just the first to try to arrest her for it. She came across him on a busy side-walk. He had one foot out of a black SUV - much like the ones from the hotel she would later realise - when the first shot rang out. It hit the door just inches from where his chest would have been had he not moved.

The people on the street scattered, running in all sorts of directions in the hope that they could escape a possible bullet. Mariana watched the black-clad man make a quick mental calculation and look up in the direction of the shot's origin. She followed his line of sight, the only one on the street rooted to the spot, just in time to see what she recognised as a muzzle flash. The man from the SUV was never going to dodge a third bullet after that one got even closer, grazing his arm as he tried to duck behind his vehicle.

Mariana acted on impulse and suddenly she was by his side, occupying the previously empty space. With a hand on his arm they were both gone, a slight 'whoosh' left behind as the air rushed to fill the gap. She took them to the middle of the desert, having been thinking of nowhere in particular other than 'not here'.

His reaction was instantaneous and the cuff was almost already on her right wrist before she was gone again. Mariana re-appeared behind him and he turned, drawing a gun at her exclamation of "What the hell dude?" But she was gone once again and he was spinning on his heel, gun ready for her to return.

And then she was there, disarming him with surprising efficiency – which he would later call a definite element of surprise for the sake of his dignity – before she and the gun were gone. The next time she re-appeared the gun was nowhere in sight and he wasn't quick enough to dodge the right hook aimed at his face.

"I saved your life and you try to arrest me? What the hell? Who are you?"

Fury stared at her, frantically trying to figure out where his gun was while maintaining a composed demeanour and scouring the map in his head to find out where the hell he was. "Who are you?"

"I asked first Mister."

"Well you're the one who seems to have transported us to the desert."

He took the chance to really look at her and assess her. She was really barely more than a teen. He'd be surprised if she were nineteen at the most. Her clothes were a little dirty and most definitely worn. Her converse seemed to be held together by duct tape alone.

The girl rolled her eyes and reached out. Fury pulled away from her and eyed her warily, reaching for his back-up weapon on instinct because Nick Fury trusted no one.

"Dude, chill. If you want me to leave you in the desert, I can like but I just thought you might want to be somewhere else. Like back at your creepy government SUV." Just like that her hand was on his arm again and they were in an alley from which he could see his vehicle, complete with the bullet hole in the door and his gun on the ground. "See?"

. . .

Mariana met Nick Fury three more times before he convinced her to come into SHIELD to be indexed. She didn't like it but considering the facts – she hadn't done anything wrong, Nick didn't seem so bad and she had nothing else to lose – she figured it would be alright, she could always teleport out if needed.

The indexing wasn't so bad, though after the intense 'consideration period' for which she spent seven hours in a room with coffee and doughnuts, Fury looked at her differently. Maybe with a little respect. It may well have been suspicion though.

Then he made his proposition.

"You want me to what?"

"You heard me."

"Why would I join SHIELD?"

"You wouldn't officially join. We'd give you some basic training but you'd work on more of a consultancy basis. We have a lot of agents here, Miss Hadley, and they go on some very dangerous missions. We can't always guarantee an extraction team for them to get back to us. In those instances, we'd call you."

"So you want me to use my abilities for your benefit as…an extraction plan?"

"You would be saving our agents' lives."

Mariana seemed to actually be considering it, tugging on her bottom lip with her teeth, posture relaxing from its previously defiant stance.

"We can provide you with a place to stay as well, like a proper recruit if you wish, just without the classes. You would have to wear a tracking anklet of course, we can't have you disappearing into trouble when we might need you, you could still be considered a threat by some."

"So I'd be on probation essentially? What, I work for you and in return you don't lock me up?"

In the end she still agreed though.


	2. Chapter 2: Experienced Consultant

**A/N:** **Hey! So this chapter is a lot longer than the first and I plan for most of them to be around this length. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying so far and reviews are always appreciated. :)**

. . .

Clint Barton was one of the very best agents that SHIELD had to offer. Therefore, he was more often than not sent out on the more dangerous of missions, the more sensitive missions. Because Fury trusted him. As much as Fury trusted any of his agents really, which wasn't much but enough. Fury trusted him to get out alive. To complete the mission, return to base and be ready for the next life threatening job he'd be sent out on.

Before, - and the director would never admit to this – Fury would have a moment of worry. He'd worry that this mission was too much. He'd worry that Barton or one of the other team members had messed up and they'd been killed. He'd worry that he'd condemned them all to their deaths – no matter how skilled or experienced the team was – by not providing an extraction.

But now, well now he had Mariana Hadley to rely on. Now he had a full-proof extraction plan at the ready and with Clint Barton going on most of SHIELD's missions that didn't provide an extraction team, he and Mariana had met a number of times. Though with the mask she always wore he had no idea of her true identity.

. . .

Plan E was a go.

Mariana always tried to plan ahead. Well, actually she just kind of went with it in the moment and later claimed it was the plan all along. She was now on plan E because the rest had all fallen through. This was supposed to be as simple as all the other extractions Fury sent her on. Get in, grab 'em, get out. Simple. That was plan A.

But they hadn't been at the camp site they had set up and Mariana could tell the fire had been doused in a hurry, recently. The first light of the day was just now beginning to appear over the horizon. Plan B had been to wait around for them to return but upon further analysis of the site the consultant concluded that they would not be returning as it was very unlikely they would have left the place un-guarded in the first place. That and there were five sets of foot prints going in five different directions. Five agents, five directions, no covered tracks.

Yeah, something definitely happened here.

So Plan C was to randomly teleport along the five trails individually. That led to four corpses and a dead-end. Four agents were dead with some form of electrical burns to the heart and the fifth agent had obviously begun to cover their tracks eventually because the trail just stopped. No signs of a struggle, no doubling back. It just stopped.

So that had to be Barton. Mariana knew he was supposed to be on this mission and she knew there were only five agents sent. He had not been any of the corpses she'd found so this was him.

She completely skipped plan D because she was immature and it almost made her giggle. Unprofessional.

So she was onto plan E. Higher ground. There was a cliff edge about a hundred yards from her position that seemed to look over a good portion of the forest she was in. So Mariana teleported up and crouched close to the ground as she shuffled closer to the edge, not wanting to be spotted from below.

The forest was really just made up of a bunch of clumps of trees with random clearings between. It took a few minutes but finally she spotted the archer – facing off against three armed men – not far to the North from her position.

But it was just Mariana's luck that she would teleport between them all just as one raised their high-tech, electrical powered gun and fired, aiming for Barton's heart.

Barton watched the young woman go down and heard her scream in pain which prompted him to lunge forward on his injured left leg to try to help. The three gunmen seemed quite interested in the girl - more likely in her powers - however and while he was distracted by his own pain and her unconscious state, Barton was hit over the head and the two were dragged off.

When Barton next woke up he was chained to the ceiling with his hands above his head. His leg hurt like hell but he'd long ago learnt to block that kind of thing out in this kind of situation, besides, it wasn't broken. He couldn't tell if the young woman – chained up the same way across from him with her feet barely scraping the concrete floor - was awake or not but that question was soon answered.

"We're in some kind of cellar I think." Her voice was hoarse and she seemed to gasp every few words, her injury obviously causing her a great deal of bother in her current position. He could see the burn mark on her uniform on her right side and could even see the mark of her skin beneath where some of the material had burned away.

"Awesome. Hey, they left your mask on." The mask she wore covered most of her face, somewhat like a ski-mask except instead of eye holes there were lenses similar to those from his own glasses, wherever they had ended up now. Other than that only her lips were visible. They were currently chapped and twitching up into a pathetic smile. Like the rest of her suit the mask was mostly black.

There was some sort of strangled gasp he could only guess was an attempt at laughter that was quickly abandoned, punctured by a hiss of pain and some very deep breathing. "I'm sorry."

Clint cocked his head to the side slightly, waiting for an explanation because as far as he was concerned she hadn't been around to screw up the mission so this was not her fault.

"I was sent to get you guys out. I was too late this time and now the others are dead and we've both been injured and captured. And I can't get us out. Whatever that blast was, it's doing something to my powers and I can't use them. We're stuck here and I'm sorry." She didn't mention the fact that she tricked a tech-guy at SHIELD into removing the tracking anklet yesterday too.

"Damn, you sound like you're in pain. You shouldn't talk if your injury is causing you that much trouble. And don't worry about this. I can get us out of here. Trust me." The archer hadn't known the other agents that had been with him were dead, was kind of counting on them being alive really.

"Isn't that what I usually say when I come to get you?"

"Didn't I tell you not to talk?"

"You just prefer the sound of your own voice, Barton."

"Never claimed otherwise, 'Masked Saviour'."

"Cute."

"I try."

Her breathing every time she shifted was worrying the agent and he watched her closely for a few seconds before asking, "Hey, are you hurt anywhere besides your side?"

Her shoulders twitched in what he could only assume was a shrug. "Ribs. I woke up while they were transporting us back here," she said by way of explanation, no other words given or needed.

"Son of a -"

Just then there were approaching footsteps and the door was unlocked with a loud 'clang'. A man that Barton recognised as being the boss of the gun-running operation they were gathering intel on – Derek Bruster – entered. He grinned almost maliciously at his two prisoners and it did nothing to settle Barton's stomach. "Ah, you are awake!" The man seemed to ignore Clint's presence entirely and focussed on the woman across from him. Barton protested to this. Loudly. But was ultimately ignored.

"I hear, you have some quite impressive abilities Miss..?" She said nothing. "Do you not wish to speak? Curse at me like your dear companion?" She said nothing. Clint continued to struggle with his bindings. "Let's remove this pesky mask shall we? This feels rather like a barrier in our conversation."

Clint had to admit, he was indeed interested to find out what she looked like under the mask, who exactly it was that had been making a habit out of saving his stupid ass more times than Nat. But he understood Fury made her wear it for a reason. However, he could do nothing to stop Derek as he pulled the mask off the struggling woman – no, girl.

And suddenly Clint Barton couldn't move because this was only a teenager before him. It was only a teenager who had saved his own and many other SHIELD agents' lives numerous times over the last three months alone. It was only a teenager who'd taken a potentially fatal shot that had been meant for him. Only a teenager staring defiantly at their captor as he stripped her of her only line of defence.

But then Derek was laughing, and Clint felt the anger start simmering in his stomach like water because he could take anything they threw at him but holy shit what would they do to this poor girl? And, fuck, would he be having words with Fury when they got out. Because they were getting out. Clint knew that much.

"Oh my, aren't you a pretty little thing? A little young to be involved in such crude activities as you are I believe. Hm? Oh this is brilliant." Bruster was a little too close to the girl for Clint's comfort and she appeared to share the sentiment as she pushed herself backwards until only the very tips of her shoes were on the floor and the archer could see the strain it was putting on her arms.

"Leave her alone asshole." Clint wanted to kick out at the man but there was too much distance between them that he knew it would be about as useful as a piece of straw in a bar fight. Although Barton could probably make that work but he didn't have time to think up another euphemism.

"Hush now. I'm talking to the little lady not you." Clint watched as the girl's jaw ticked at the term and almost smiled because he could tell she was pissed and maybe her age was just a sensitive spot or maybe she had a shorter fuse than he did. "How does someone like you get involved with something like SHIELD anyway? Are they forcing you? Do they pay you? Because I can assure you, I could pay you more."

Something in the girl's face relaxed and Clint faltered for a brief second. She wasn't going to turn on SHIELD was she? For money? After everything she'd done for them all? Derek must have caught the change too as he grinned wider. "We could give you a place to stay. You could be one of us, part of the family. You'd have a place here."

"You treat all of your family like prisoners?" The girl's eyes seemed to be watering and her voice took on a vulnerable note as she looked up pointedly towards the chains. Derek looked ready to unlock the chains, hand reaching to the keys on his belt. It was a small change, took just a millisecond but he caught it. Her eyes hardened for a fraction of a second and he knew he was being played.

"You little bitch. You think you could trick me?"

"It was worth a shot." Barton felt bad. For a moment he felt really bad for doubting her loyalty, for doubting her at all because for anyone as young as her to have lasted this long in her position they would have to be strong as hell and even more determined.

Then Derek slapped her hard across the face and the anger was simmering again, close to boiling at that point. "Do not disrespect me."

"Maybe you shouldn't make it so easy then mate."

With that comment from the girl Derek turned on his heel and left with a menacing "You're going to regret this." Meanwhile, Clint, feeling oddly protective, decided he would do whatever he had to do to protect this girl, to get her out and to get her home. Yet he suspected home may well have been a foreign term to the girl before him. How else did she end up with SHIELD?

"So," Clint began, "What's your name then kid?"

"I'm almost seventeen," she practically growled and Clint felt no more at ease, having been guessing 18 at the very least. "My name is Mariana," she said with a sigh.

"Well, Mariana," Clint looked around as much as he could to ensure there were no cameras before continuing, "we are going to get out of here because I have a plan."

She snorted. "So did I."

. . .

"Hold up, what exactly is your plan again?"

"We wait."

"One more time."

"We wait."

"That's what I thought you said. Now my plan was crap, I'll admit that because it failed, miserably, but your plan, your plan is just plain stupid."

"It's really not."

"Idiotic, dump, suicidal, moronic-"

"They all mean practically the same thing Mariana."

"I'm aware. Are you aware that this 'plan', if you can even call it that, will get us killed?"

"No, it won't."

"Oh it will."

"It won't, you just have to trust me." Mariana wanted so badly to protest that yes, this plan would indeed get them killed. But Clint was staring at her earnestly and she wasn't used to that because every other time they'd seen each other there had been playful banter and a mocking edge to every word he said to her, every look he gave her.

But right then, in that very moment, Mariana Hadley saw a side of Clint Barton she had assumed she would never be lucky - or unlucky - enough to witness. The serious side. The tight-lipped, sharp-eyed, completely serious, no-nonsense side of one of SHIELD's best agents that told her he knew what he was doing, that he was 100% sure he could get them out.

She was about to give in. She was about to cave and tell him that she did trust him, that she would do as he said and follow his plan, that she would do something completely unlike her and do as he said. But then she felt a tingling in her toes that was unmistakeable, a tingling sensation she had sorely missed for the past hour. It was small and she knew she wouldn't be able to teleport more than ten feet in that moment but it would get stronger.

And then she could go farther.

"I trust you, Barton. But there have been new developments and we are going to need to tweak that plan of yours just a little." She grinned at his surprised expression. "My powers are coming back, it isn't much right now but I'd guess in half an hour I'll be strong enough to get us to SHIELD HQ and in an hour I'll be good as new."

Slowly, Clint began to smile, just a little one, but he nodded in agreement and they began to plan an escape/take-down, because Clint Barton had never left a mission incomplete and was not about to stop now.

"We're going to need a distraction."

. . .

"Kid? Hey kid! Hey, someone better get in here; she can't breathe!"

The two guards posted outside the cellar door started at their male prisoner's shouting, punctuated by the loud and pained gasps from the other prisoner, and were quick to begin opening the heavy steel door. Usually they would ignore any of their prisoners when they shouted out because usually it was some kind of demands or pleadings to be released.

But the boss had taken a liking to the girl they were holding and had been adamant that she be hurt no further than she already was. So when the door was finally open they let it swing shut but didn't lock it as they rushed to check on the slumped figure of the girl hanging from the ceiling of the cellar.

The other prisoner, the agent, was shouting all kinds of obscenities at them as they moved across the room. "I swear to God if she isn't breathing right now I will kill all of you! She was complaining about her ribs earlier so if she has a punctured lung right now there will be no safe place for you lot to hide you bastards!"

Both guards ignored him in favour of checking on the girl. One began checking for a pulse. What happened next was like a quick-time event from a video game. As the guard's hand reached toward the girl's neck the other guard noticed something they'd both failed to upon entering the room and approaching the prisoner.

She wasn't actually chained up.

Before he could get a word of warning out though Mariana had opened her eyes, planted her feet firmly on the ground, let go of the chains and punched the guard in front of her in the face. He stumbled and she grabbed a handful of his hair and shoved him in the direction of the wall to her left. There was a loud 'smack' as his head apparently hit the wall.

The second guard had turned in this time and started for the door. Probably planning to alert his friends to the development. Mariana grabbed the end of the chains that had earlier held her up and wrapped them around his neck. She struggled with him for a few moments before he went slack with the tell-tale signs of unconsciousness.

She dropped him and the chain to the ground before stumbling back and almost falling down herself. With her hands to her mouth she looked between the two downed guards in shock because fuck she had done that and sure, SHIELD had trained her to fight, but she never thought she would ever actually have to.

"Mariana," Clint said calmly but sharply. She snapped her head up to look at him where he was still chained to the ceiling. "I know, believe me I know, but you need to get the keys. Okay? Get the keys."

She knew what he was doing, he was distracting her, giving her a task to do, a mission to complete so she didn't fall apart right there and she was so god-damn thankful for that. She checked both the unconscious guards - and yes, she'd checked and the first one was indeed still breathing - and found a small set of keys which she used to release the archer.

Mariana had been able to concentrate enough to teleport herself out of the chains in the first place but the concentration had been tiring so she couldn't do it for Clint as well, which is what led to her having to take down the guards in the first place.

Clint groaned in pain when he dropped down onto his left leg and it almost folded from under him at the weight. He was quick to right himself with a hand on Mariana's shoulder and nodded that he would be okay to go on. She looked sceptical at first before moving toward the door with Clint limping behind her.

. . .

Almost every SHIELD agent in the building was avoiding Nick Fury. He was in a particularly pissy mood and while almost everyone was oblivious as to why that was, Maria Hill and Phillip Coulson knew it was because it had been almost six hours since Mariana had left to pick up Barton's crew and she still hadn't returned. It was no secret to Agents Hill and Coulson that the Director had a soft spot for the young teleporter.

The three were walking together through the halls of SHIELD headquarters discussing a possible 0-8-4, unlikely but possible, when there was a sudden commotion down the hall and more than a few agents ran around the corner at the end of the hall. The three senior agents were quick to follow, shoving their way through the crowd to find something quite unexpected.

Clint Barton was leaning on his bow and trying his damnedest to keep pressure off his left leg. He had about three arrows left in his quiver and a nasty gash above his right eye. His right elbow was leaning on the shoulder of Mariana Hadley, decked out in her full gear - mask and all - as she had an arm wrapped around her mid-section and appeared to have several tears in her uniform.

"Get them to medical," Fury ordered calmly as soon as he saw the pair and several agents moved to accommodate the order almost immediately. Fury knew he would spend the next while waiting for a report about the pair's conditions and if the hard look Agent Barton was shooting at him was anything to go by he would also be having a very long 'talk' with his best agent shortly after. However, he couldn't help but release a breath of relief as the crowd dispersed and he knew they were in good hands.

Only Coulson seemed to notice if the smirk he wore was any indication.

. . .

That 'conversation' Barton wanted to have with Fury was much more like a rant about Fury's apparent 'complete disregard for that girl's safety' and a list of demands for if she was ever to be sent into the field again.

The demands included a new, heat resistant, suit because "She still got burned through that cheap piece of crap," and "God-dammit Fury I know you have one."

The 'conversation' ended with a sharp "Oh, and I'll be training Mariana whenever I'm not on mission so expect to see my face around here a whole lot more." After Agent Barton had left, childishly slamming the door on his way out, Fury smiled to himself because he'd never expected Clint Barton to be one to so frankly point out all the shit he hadn't realised he'd been doing wrong.

Then he frowned because he distinctly heard Barton say the girl's name and he remembered telling her to keep her identity under lock and key for the time being. There were words to be had there but for now Fury settled for re-reading the mission reports from the both of them, preparing the condolence letters and ensuring Derek Bruster and his gun-running thugs stayed behind bars for a long time.


	3. Chapter 3: Still not a Hero

Fury was under no illusion that while Mariana was training much more regularly - even under the watchful eyes of Hawkeye himself - to hone her combat skills she was still wholly under qualified to assist in the Battle of New York or to even be considered for the Avengers Initiative despite her favourable abilities.

He refused to call her in when Barton was compromised regardless of how close they'd been since the incident with Bruster. He refused to call her in so that they could get to Loki faster the first time. He refused to call her in when the hellicarrier was going down, Coulson was gone and the hulk was loose because what the hell could she have done besides teleported as many people to safety as possible?

Fury refused to call her in because Mariana Hadley was the extraction plan. She was not a fighter. She was not a full agent. And she was not – as she often reminded him – a hero. It was definitely not because he didn't want to risk her getting hurt or killed because he definitely did not have a weak spot when it came to Mariana Hadley.

She wasn't, however, blind. So the second Mariana found out about the Chiutari, Loki, Clint, Coulson and the rest of the Avengers, she teleported to Fury, decked him and left. Because while Mariana Hadley sure as hell was not a hero, she would not sit back and watch everything be destroyed when there was something she could do about it.

. . .

"Iron man you got a few tails there." It shouldn't have been possible for Hawkeye to instigate playful banter such as this in the middle of the end of the world but somehow he was managing it and in the meantime wasn't falling apart about the mind control thing so that was a plus.

"Thanks Hawkeye," came the sarcastic reply over the comms. "You want to help me out a little?" Iron man was currently flying in circles causing some of the aliens to crash into each other but not enough to put him completely in the clear.

"Kind of running low on ammo here buddy." Hawkeye was down to four arrows in his quiver and that number was still quickly diminishing, even as he chose his targets as carefully as he could afford to.

"Oh, I can help with that."

All of the Avengers seemed to start at the new voice over comms but Hawkeye merely grinned and looked beside him to find Mariana wearing her usual, SHIELD provided, gear. Mask and all. It was still black like before but was accented with a deep forest green colour. She was holding a second quiver full of arrows for him.

"You going to be joining us?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the bow and arrows.

She shrugged. "Why not? Looks like you could use it."

Hawkeye grinned. "You got a name for yourself yet or are you gonna let the papers give you one?"

"I was thinking 'Quantum'."

"You better get started then, Quantum."

She grinned. "Later Birdy."

Deciding it would be a good idea for Mariana to not get shot Hawkeye spoke into the comms unit as soon as she was gone. "Guys, the girl in the SHIELD gear and mask is on our side. Repeat, she is an ally."

"Yeah, so don't go killing me or anything."

From that point, Quantum used her abilities to assist in the fight by gathering the aliens in clumps of six or seven where Hawkeye could easily shoot one explosive arrow to take them all out in one go, thereby saving him the ammunition. Though she was prepared to provide him with more and did in fact inform him of this. He laughed and told her to get back to work.

She also teleported a few away when they were closing in to the point of possibly overwhelming the good Captain a few times. She had to pause there for a second because _Captain freaking America_. She also returned his shield to him when it got knocked off course once. He immediately threw it at another alien's head and that time it returned to him.

Then Black Widow was knocked into while flying one of those craft things and almost fell to her death. Quantum was quick to teleport onto the craft and pull the assassin back to safety before heading back to the ground, assuming the master assassin could hold her own from there.

When Thor was getting ready to swing Mjilnor at one alien, Quantum quickly teleported three others in a line behind so that the force knocked them all out. Thor noticed and was pleasantly surprised. He gave her a polite nod of acknowledgement that made the butterflies in her stomach erupt almost as much as they had when Captain America had saluted to her as she had returned the shield.

For a while she devoted her time to teleporting civilians trapped in the fray to safety, especially when the Hulk was rampaging quite close by or Iron Man was leading more aliens on a chase through the city. Some of the civilians were trapped inside buildings or were being crowded by Chiutari which was just not on. They quickly found themselves in a random street far enough away for the fighting to only be on the TV.

When it came to actually fighting the Chiutari one on one though, Quantum called on all of the SHIELD training she'd received so far to incapacitate them and move on. There were a few times she'd been surrounded and had to teleport away for a breather before returning to knock some heads. At one point she picked up one of their freaky weapons and turned it on them. The weaponry was too similar to that which had blocked her powers previously though and she quickly abandoned it.

There were a few times when Captain America asked, well, ordered her to provide assistance to a particular avenger or gave her a certain task to focus her efforts on or even one time when he told her to stick to the north side because it wasn't so bad but they still needed to protect the civilians.

But the portal was getting wider and more were coming through and Goddammit Fury why is there a missile heading right for us?! Then Iron Man was flying the missile through the portal and Black Widow was closing it and Loki was long ago out of commission.

Then the Chiutari, all at once, were down.

The portal was closing.

Iron Man was falling.

Quantum's heart wasn't beating.

Hulk was jumping.

Iron Man was alive.

Quantum was breathing again.

The rest of the avengers left to properly deal with Loki before he recovered from his Hulk smashing and Quantum wasn't sure if she was really needed for that part so she set about freeing anyone she hadn't reached during the actual fight or using her powers to pile up the Chiutari for easier clean up. She had taken out the comms device as soon as the fight ended but her cell was ringing in her uniform pocket and she ignored it in favour of re-uniting the little boy with his mother and father.

She knew her powers were about to crap out on her. She knew that the ever constant buzz was slowly fading from her veins and she knew that she should stop soon but if she could get to just a few more people. If she could help just a few more people then-

She stumbled and dropped to one knee amidst the rubble of what used to be a clothing store and suddenly Clint was on his knees in front of her and was pulling her against his chest. He was speaking to her, she knew he was and she was hearing the words but they just weren't registering. She realised she was crying pretty quickly but blacked out before she could even begin to care.

. . .

Mariana came to back at SHIELD with a killer headache and a low buzz in her veins. Her movements were sluggish at best as she pushed off the makeshift bed in the crowded SHIELD infirmary. She was surrounded by other injured or unconscious SHIELD agents and busy doctors who didn't notice when she left.

She went looking for Fury, planning to have a proper conversation with him and maybe not punch him this time since she was actually thinking straight. She found him pretty quickly by following the raised voices, one of which was his but the words were indistinguishable. That led her to a conference room that contained not only Fury but a group of people she presumed were the Avengers themselves.

They all looked pretty rough though their wounds seemed to have already been tended to. Captain America still wore his uniform but with the top part undone and hanging loosely around his waist revealing he had been wearing a white t-shirt underneath. Or had put the shirt on after. Tony Stark was out of his Iron Man suit but it stood open, somewhat creepily in the corner of the room. A smaller man with dishevelled and slightly greying hair whom she could only guess was Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, was fidgeting with his hands on top of the wooden table.

Thor was leaning against the wall facing the door, slowly swinging Mjilnor back and forth. Black Widow looked slightly more calm than the others but her hair was kind of a mess and she looked pretty worn out. Clint was red in the face, obviously having been one of the raised voices from before since he was glaring daggers at Fury who was stood at the top of the table and had been in mid-sentence when Mariana had walked in.

Fury gave a long suffering sigh when he saw her while Clint seemed to relax immensely. "Take a seat Mariana."

She faltered. "Mariana? No 'Miss Hadley' for once? Must be serious."

Fury looked at her like she had just grown not one but two heads right in front of him and then he glared and she could see the bruise from her surprise attack earlier that day as she took her seat.

"Serious?" he practically shouted and she had to fight not to sink lower into her chair. "You assaulted a senior agent, interfered with a top secret mission, revealed your identity without prior permission-"

She raised her hand like a kid in school but cut him off all the same. "Yeah, I don't remember doing that last thing." Someone snorted behind her and she thought it was probably Clint.

"Point still stands, you should be glad I'm not kicking you out of SHIELD right now."

"Dude, I'm not even an agent."

"You're not?" Captain America questioned.

"She's a consultant." Clint and Natasha said at the same time which was no surprise since she had met Natasha that one time she actually needed an extraction. It was a bad day. They don't talk about it.

Captain America's steely gaze suddenly turned on Fury as he demanded in a low voice "What is a kid doing consulting for SHIELD anyway?"

"That's irrelevant Captain." Fury rebuked, pointedly ignoring Mariana as she muttered "I'm 17."

"It's pretty relevant," Banner jumped in.

Fury looked ready to explode

"Listen," Mariana began as she stood up and turned so she could face the whole room, "I'm still confused as to what the hell is going on right now, I just wanted to find Director Fury and apologise for punching you in the face. So I'm sorry for that. Now I'd quite like to go back to my apartment." Most of the room gaped at her. "What?"

"You just helped save the world and you want to go back to your life like nothing happened at all?"

"No of course not," she replied to Stark. "I'm gonna go shower and eat then head out to help with the clean-up. Lord knows they could use the help." Bruce winced at that but she finished with a simple, "The Chiutari really did a number on the place."

There was silence for a minute before Clint stood and approached the girl he saw as a little sister, placing his hands on her arms forcing her to look up at him. "Mariana, I'll be the first to wallow in my self-pity after today but I have to ask, what do you think you did today?" Everyone else in the room was just as confused as Marianna herself was, she could see it when she looked over Clint's shoulder.

"I, uh, I helped. You guys, civilians, I just helped."

Clint smiled softly and the rest of the avengers were even more confused by his immediate response of "No."

"No?" Mariana questioned after a beat.

"Barton what are yo-"

"Shut up Natasha I'm making a point here. What did you really do out there today Mari?"

"I, I don't know what you mean."

"I mean you didn't help people out there today Mari, you saved them, you saved us. You were a hero out there today, just as much as the rest of us were.

Mariana was shaking her head and pulling away from Clint. She backed up four steps and hit a wall, still shaking her head and he didn't make a move to follow her. "No. No, I've told you before I'm not, I'm not a hero, Clint. I helped people today, okay? I didn't save them, there is a difference."

"And what's that?" Natasha asked, seeming to catch on to the train of thought.

"Saving someone means they would've died. I just, I just helped. I didn't save anybody."

"What about the people trapped under the rubble? You got them out but what if it had've collapsed? They would have died. What about me, you brought me more arrows. I would have been defenceless if you hadn't. What about Cap over there? He may be a super soldier but there's only so much one guy - no matter how enhanced - can take and I saw you lighten the load for him plenty of times down on the ground."

"You saved the Widow's life," Thor chimed in from across the room, "I saw. You are a valiant warrior Lady Mariana."

"But I'm not a hero, I can't be a hero! I'm not Tony Stark with a metal suit and missiles, I'm not a God or a super soldier or an expert marksman or an expert fighter or strong like the Hulk! Okay? I'm not hero material!"

"Sure you are." Stark said like she was missing something right in front of her. "I mean; sure you may not be any of the things we are-"

"Not helping Stark," Clint hissed.

"But," he continued like Clint said nothing, "you sure as hell bring something new to the table. Metaphorically of course, you certainly brought nothing new to this table other that a good laugh about a kid punching Nick over here. But what you can do? Where does that come from? How long have you been able to do that? Do you know how cool that is? Do you know what would have happened if you weren't there today?"

She was about to respond, but he continued without her. "People would have died. Well, people did and that is tragic but the death toll, by JARVIS' calculations which should be pretty damn accurate, would be about five times higher had you not saved the people you did. So you are hero material. Not super hero material because, well you're nowhere near my league yet kid, but you're definitely a hero after today."

"We couldn't have achieved half of what we did today without you there. Like Hawkeye said, you saved our lives more than once and you saved more than a few civilians." She didn't know how to feel about Captain America's praise. Any of their praise.

"Your strategical skills are almost on par with those of the greatest of warriors."

"The other guy caused quite a mess out there, but he didn't kill anyone because you got them out of the way so, uh, thank you for that. Really."

"I just did what I thought was right," she whispered to the room as she looked to the floor.

"That's the best part Mari, because that's how heroes are supposed to start out."

Then she was hugging Clint because even if she still wasn't sure about the 'hero' thing she sure as hell appreciated everything he'd just started for her. She met Fury's eye over her big brother figure's shoulder and he nodded at her before slipping out of the room silently. That's when she noticed she was crying.

And she laughed.

"Oh God, I'm crying in front of Captain America."

Everyone in the room laughed a little and he stood up to approach her, holding out a hand. "It's Steve."

"You have a really big hand Steve," she blurted as she shook his hand and then her eyes widened and she blushed like crazy because Tony freaking Stark was absolutely losing it in the corner and Steve's ears were going pink and Clint was grinning like crazy.

Then Steve leaved in and whispered, "Wait until you see Thor's." Then she was blushing even more.

Thor, as it turns out, tended not to shake hands and instead pulled the teen into a hug that wasn't as tight as she had been expecting a Thor hug to be so she assumed he was being gentle with her and with how her ribs felt at that moment she was grateful.

She shook hands with the rest of the avengers and Stark mentioned the possibility of them all living in the tower once it was re-built. At that idea Mariana was pretty sure all the blood had drained from her face.

Between separate de-briefs about the whole event, Mariana's unavoidable chat with Fury and seeing off the Asgardians it was a few days before Mariana and Clint got to actually sit down alone together. She could see on his face that he was blaming himself for practically everything that had gone down and he could see on hers that she was still having trouble with the 'hero thing'.

That's why they spent an unknown amount of time hugging. Clint came into her apartment and she'd just pulled him down onto the couch and placed her arms around him as he did the same. And if she felt his tears against her cheek she said nothing. And if he felt her shaking with quiet sobs? Well he said nothing too.

The first words she spoke to him when they pulled apart were; "You know, if I practice enough I'm pretty sure I could teleport us to Asgard and we could dispose of Loki once and for all."

He'd laughed. "Thor would have objections."

"So would you. I can see it in your face. You're blaming yourself sure, but you're blaming Loki more and you still don't want him dead, even after everything he's done, tried to do, you don't want to kill him."

"No. I figure an Asgardian prison has to be hell enough."

They joked around for a bit after that, the conversation drifted a few times to more serious topics but they always managed to make the other laugh.

Mariana decided a few weeks later that she didn't want to be an avenger. She liked the work she did with SHIELD but she promised to be there for any one of them if they ever needed her to be. She also promised to keep in touch with all of them and managed to hug all of them, being pleasantly surprised when Natasha was the one to instigate their hug.

"We don't have to give another 'you're a hero' speech do we?" Stark had asked.

Mariana had laughed. "I know exactly what I am Stark, and I am nowhere near your league."

"Regardless, there'll always be room for you Quantum."


	4. Chapter 4: Dysfunctional

While she didn't live in the tower with the other Avengers – adamant that her own apartment had been perfectly fine up to this point and would continue to be for some time – she did spend a lot of time there. It started out as a few times a month, dropping by to catch up and leaving after a 'team dinner' in the communal dining room.

Then she started staying the night and her visits became more regular, once or twice a week almost like clockwork, almost always staying all night. She slept in her own apartment less and less and the clothes piled up in her tower room and it got to the point where everyone was surprised if she _didn't_ stay the night.

So about six months after the Battle of New York she caved and agreed to officially move in but she made a deal with Fury so that she could keep her apartment as a backup. Tony had wanted to throw a party. Mariana refused. He still threw a party. Clint and Steve kept a watchful eye, refusing to let her drink no matter how much she protested that the smell made her want to hurl anyway.

That night was when Mariana Hadley realised that in the last few months she had found herself her own little family. A slightly dysfunctional one, but a family all the same.

. . .

Mariana didn't have a favourite. They were all family to her now anyway and she didn't like the idea of choosing a favourite family member. She'd started at SHIELD with practically nothing to her name but her ratty old sneakers but she had now found herself nestled in a crazy family life with a kind-of father figure who refused to admit he cared about her, two older sisters – because after only their first meeting Mariana had already decided that Pepper _definitely_ counted – and five older brothers.

It was comforting to have that many people who cared about her. And scary to have so many people to care about in return.

They all had their quirks. Mariana was no exception. Tony Stark's brusque and obtuse manner was something of a difficulty to deal with at first but as she got closer to him and they grew to trust each other she realised there was a lot more to Mr 'I am Iron Man' Stark. Not only were his sassy comments an absolute joy for Mariana, witnessing his genius in action was simply breath-taking.

Sure, there was the fact that sometimes he went down the proverbial rabbit hole so deep not even Pepper could haul his billionaire ass out. Those times nobody would see the man for a few days other than to bring food down into the workshop and have their presence unintentionally ignored. He'd appear a few days later, exhausted and aching for a coffee. Pepper usually took over for a bit, making him eat and shower and sleep.

Then he'd wake up and spend the next few days trying to explain to everyone the moment of genius that had propelled him into his detached state in the first place. Bruce usually understood what he was talking about the most but he was more of a biology guy than an engineer. Tony grew bored easily when the others just blanked out because they seemed to accept they'd never understand him. The excitement and energy had to go somewhere so the billionaire usually ended up back in the workshop to tinker with small projects for a while.

The first time Mariana experienced what Clint had dubbed the 'post rabbit hole madness' was just a few weeks after the battle. She knew Stark was struggling. They all were in some way.

Steve drew or went to the museum, Natasha and Clint spent more time in the gym than she would probably consider healthy for anyone but them, Thor had returned only once from Asgard and had looked like a lost puppy for a moment before going off to find Jane and she hadn't known anything really about Bruce's routine before the battle but the amount of tai chi he did at that point was almost concerning.

Tony had arguably had the worst time of it during the battle. He flew a nuke into a goddamn alien portal into space for crying out load. He had died. Again. So even though he hid it well Mariana knew the anxiety was burning him up and his coping mechanism was to tinker. He'd almost been killed, almost seen the entire planet he called home destroyed and his way to cope was to _create_ something new.

It was a little unexpected when the great Tony Stark came bounding straight up to her like an excited five-year-old the second she appeared in the communal living room of the Avengers Tower. It surprised everyone for a moment. Until the others all realised she was the only one not around enough yet to have been subjected to his barrage of explanations.

He had burst into some big rambling rant complete with wide and unrelated hand gestures, bouncing on his toes, voice confident. Mariana had stopped in her tracks on the way to the fridge as soon as he'd come toward her. With all eyes in the room on her and the constant jabbering of Stark in her ear, the youngest contemplated continuing her journey but made a quick decision otherwise.

She turned on her heel to fully face Stark and backed up to hop up onto the kitchen counter, giving the genius her full attention. By the immediate relax of his shoulders and the way his speech slowed just a fraction so as the words weren't just tumbling out haphazardly she knew he appreciated the display.

"Sorry," she spoke up quickly, "you caught me off guard there and I missed the first part. Start again?" Stark stopped. And Blinked. And grinned.

He opened the fridge and tossed her the juice pouch she had intended to retrieve in the first place. Still grinning, he began again. "So I've been working on this new arrow for Clint…" He kept talking about his new creation that she knew the archer would appreciate but never bother to understand, and Mariana listened with rapt attention, nodding her head where appropriate and sipping slowly on her juice pouch.

It was one comment. One silly little comment made while Stark was complaining about a few bugs to work out, but _the idea is solid, Mariana, thank you very much._ She'd just wanted to contribute; to show she actually was paying attention though she didn't know what half of his words meant. She just blurted "Like water pressure?" and Stark stopped talking.

He just stopped, mid-sentence, hands still hanging in the air in some strange gesture, mouth gaping open like a fish. He slowly closed his mouth, blinked and remained still for a few moments, eyes focussed on nothing in particular. Everyone in the room – Mariana had forgotten the majority of the team was still in the room, watching – was silent until the genius himself jumped backwards with a shout of "Oh!"

She half expected him to smack himself on the forehead but instead he surged forward and lifted the young woman off the counter by her hips and hugged her quick, laughing heartily. "Oh you are brilliant! I mean, not as brilliant as me, but still. Don't feel bad, I'm a genius so it's all good that you didn't understand a word of what I said just now because you may have just solved everything."

With that, Stark was gone, assumedly rushing back to his workshop, hopefully not for another three-day spurt. When he was gone Mariana chuckled to herself and dumped the empty juice pouch in the trash. When she turned, Natasha was watching her approvingly, Clint was staring wide-eyed with a shit-eating grin, Steve was looking between her and the elevator Stark had just made his break from.

"How?" Clint sputtered.

Mariana raised a brow.

"How what?"

Steve coughed. "I think what Barton is trying to ask is how were you able to interact with Stark so easily? Usually when he's just finished a project he can be..strange."

Mariana shrugged. "I just listened to what he was saying. I didn't understand and we both knew it but he seemed like he wanted to vent so I let him. Apparently I said something smart too. Bonus points!"

The next time Tony went down the rabbit hole Marianna was there to witness the entire thing. She was there when the beginnings of an anxiety attack began and Stark rushed to his safe haven and she refused to leave the tower until he emerged with grease streaked across his face, rips in his shirt and tired, dark eyes. When he did finally come out, Pepper was already up in their penthouse to make sure he took care of himself.

But Mariana met him as he exited the elevator on his own floor with a gentle smile and a light touch on his arm. "I'm thinking of hanging around for a while tomorrow, got a lot of free time. You cool with that?"

The genius looked up and even in his sleep deprived mind he was aware of exactly what she was doing. He managed a pathetic little smile before leaving to collapse into the waiting arms of his loving girlfriend.

The next day Mariana spent almost two hours listening to the billionaire talk about his inventing. The next time it happened she found Bruce and Natasha in her place, silently nodding along as she had while they let their friend rant. Mariana didn't know if she had ever grinned so much to see the team interacting with this 'strange' Stark.

Tony was eternally thankful because the team's support after a tinkering spree definitely helped to quell his anxiety but the closest he would ever get to admitting that would be a small nod from across the room one day. What could he say? He was still Tony Stark after all.

. . .

More reserved in his demeanour but no better off in the problems department, Bruce Banner became closer to Mariana in a much quieter way. While with Tony she herself hadn't said much at all, with Bruce she did the majority of the talking.

Mariana was an early riser. It was a trait she developed early on in her childhood and had maintained as a result of early morning SHIELD missions. So it wasn't unexpected of her to be one of the first awake in the morning when she stayed at the tower. She was usually the third. She would wake up to find that Banner was already in his lab or eating breakfast in the communal kitchen while Steve was out for his morning run.

There was one morning when Mariana had woken up at 4:30am in a cold sweat, panting and sobbing and full of an anxious energy she did not like. Refusing to go back to sleep she stalled by taking an extra-long shower, cleaning up her apartment since it was where she had slept that night and decided she didn't want to be on her own that day by 5:06am.

So she teleported herself to the Avengers Tower. No-one was around on the communal floor but JARVIS helpfully informed her that Dr Banner was in the training room, meditating. She debated for a moment before deciding to head down there. When she entered Bruce was sat upright on a small rectangular blue mat with his legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees.

Not wanting to disturb the relaxed-looking scientist, Mariana silently settled herself a few feet from him in an imitation of his position. The pair sat in silence for quite a while and Mariana took the time to study Bruce. He looked calm in his current position which heavily contrasted with his usual stressed appearance.

She was pretty sure his constant attempt to de-stress stressed him out the most of all.

Bruce opened his eyes around twenty minutes later. He'd known he was not alone and of anyone had expected it to be Natasha or maybe Steve in front of him but was surprised – not unpleasantly – to find Mariana there. He raised an eyebrow.

"Mariana?"

She blushed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you or anything. I just..I..I don't know what I was doing. JARVIS told me you were here and you looked so relaxed and I just kind of sat down without thinking and now I'm rambling so if you want me to leave I can."

Bruce gave her a placating smile. "Straighten your back," he commanded and she found herself obeying easily and watched him slip his eyes closed again.

She couldn't help herself though and after only a few minutes she broke the silence with a whispered question. "Does it help?"

Not bothered at all, Bruce replied easily. "Sometimes."

"But not always?"

"No. No, not always."

"Teach me?"

Bruce peeked his eyes open at the tentative request of the young woman. "Teach you?"

"Please? I mean, if you can. If you have time. If you…If you want to."

"Meet me here early tomorrow then."

"I can do early."

Bruce almost smirked. "I noticed." Mariana pouted at his mocking tone and stretched a leg out just enough to nudge the scientist with her foot causing him to chuckle. She grinned, loving the fact that he was so relaxed. "Now why are we whispering?"

Mariana couldn't help it, she laughed. Loud and happy, almost hysterical by the point Bruce's soft chuckling joined her in merriment.

. . .

Mariana grew up learning about Captain America so she greatly looked up to the captain whenever she was around him, trying to be more reserved and proper than she was around the others. She grew up learning about the hero and even knowing Steve Rogers was just a man, it was difficult not to be surprised when he did something inexplicably human.

So when she walked in on him dancing along to an old jazz song while cooking something that smelled absolutely _divine_ she just kind of stopped in the doorway and stared. They were the only ones in the tower with Tony and Pepper at some event, Clint and Natasha on a mission, Bruce back in India for two weeks and Thor off-world.

Then she laughed.

Steve spun around with his face flushed a light pink, a wooden spoon in one hand and wearing an apron with a picture of some very chiselled abs. At that point Marian clutched onto the kitchen counter with one hand and doubled over, the other arm wrapped securely around her stomach as her entire body shook with each heaving laugh.

"Ha ha," Steve laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "Mariana, what are you…what are you doing here?"

"Enjoying myself apparently," she replied when she finally sobered up and slipped into a bar stool at the kitchen island. "I'll tell no one, promise. What are ya making Cap?"

"It's, uh, Steve. Please."

Mariana blushed and looked down with a nod. "Sorry."

"It's not really a problem just that, well, people tend to treat me differently because of the Captain America thing, y'know? It gets a little bit much sometimes. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

Mariana scoffed. "You are no kid, Rogers. You are the farthest thing from a kid. You are, like, the very definition of a man. Not to make you uncomfortable or anything. Am I making you uncomfortable? If I am I can always leave, I didn't mean to surprise you or get in your way or what not and- "

"Woah! Slow down, take a breath. It's fine." He laughed "And to answer your earlier question I am currently making curry."

Mariana glanced behind him and raised a brow at him. "You sure you don't mean burning?"

"What?" his face dropped and he spun quickly to glance and the simmering curry that was perfectly fine. He turned back to give a half-hearted glare to which she only grinned. "Oh you think you're funny, Don't you?"

"Oh I think I'm hilarious Steve."

"You're really not."

"I really am."

He shrugged. "Difference of opinion."

She clutched her chest and let her jaw drop a little in mock hurt. "Why good sir I didn't know a man such as yourself could be so very cruel."

"Oh hush."

"Aye, aye Captain!"

"Is that some kind of reference? People keep saying it and I don't know what it means."

Mariana blinked before practically shouting, "I can't hear you!"

"I'll assume it's some kind of reference then shall I?" Steve shook his head and stirred his curry.

"So, is there enough there for two? I doubt anyone else will be home tonight, I'm dying to try some 1940s Steve Roger's cooking and frankly I am _starving_."

"Good. I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to eat alone tonight."

"It's somewhat depressing, right?"

"Yep."

The curry was delicious and Mariana made sure to let Steve know that. He laughed and replied with a simple "I know." And she had grinned at the lack of humility he showed with that one short sentence.

Captain America was Steve Rogers and Steve Rogers was indeed just a man. And if anyone noticed the two spending more time in the kitchen? Well they kept their damn mouths shut because Steve was a lot more relaxed after their cooking sessions and even Clint hadn't seen Mariana get so passionate about anything besides cooking with Steve.

. . .

When Thor was around - which was more than she had expected - she often tried to educate him in the 'Midguardian Arts' as she like to call it. Basically she forced him to listen to popular music, taught him crappy 'knock knock' jokes, educated him on well-known human customs and, most recently, taught him about human dancing.

"So this, twerking, is a favourable dance on Midguard?"

"Lord no, just popular. It is in no way attractive."

"How so?"

"I am not about to demonstrate twerking to a God."

"Should I be disappointed?"

Mariana just glared at the God of Thunder, who grinned in return.

"Okay what else, well apparently a lot of people enjoy watching little girls dress up like princesses and have a competition of who the best princess is. At least that's how I understand it."

Thor seemed just as confused at that concept.

"Yeah, let's go back to jokes again, how about that?"

"Ah, your famous play on word customs are most enlightening Lady Mariana."

"We talked about this, it's just Mariana. No Lady, okay?"

"Of course, my apologies."

"No problemo my friend." Thor beamed. "Okay, so did you hear about the guy who lost his left side? He's all right now."

"Thank goodness! The poor mortal."

"No, no Thor, it was a joke, a pun. He lost his _left_ side. All he has is his _right_ side. Get it?"

"Ah," Thor scratched his chin. "Try another."

"Okay. So what if I don't know what 'apocalypse' means? It's not the end of the world!"

"Oh, I get that one!" He laughed heartily.

"My friend told me an onion was the only food that could make you cry, so I threw a coconut at his face."

Thor looked at her quizzically. "Why would you do that to your friend?" Mariana face-palmed. "Do not be discouraged Mariana."

Other times though, she marvelled at the Prince of Asgard's raw intelligence. He was no inventor like Stark and certainly was not yet accustomed to Midguard nor did he know much about it since he was still learning its ways. But he was very clever.

His intelligence was based upon the magic of the universe which she found absolutely fascinating. She asked questions to which he almost always had an answer. To the ones he did not he promised to endeavour to find answers upon his next visit to his home.

He told her stories of the nine realms, of his experience in travelling those realms and fighting a great many battles throughout the realms. How he would one day take his father's throne and rule over Asgard as he had witnessed Odin do. Mariana could have listened to Thor talk about his home, his people, for hours on end, she did once. She just sat down with the God and he told her _so much_.

He was telling her one day about a great battle in which he and his friends had fought for Asgard and come out the other side victorious.

It was then that her cell vibrated with a text. She had an extraction site to be at in five minutes so she said a quick goodbye to the God of Thunder who embraced her and waved her off with orders to be safe. Orders. Form the God of Thunder.

. . .

She loved the boys. She loved them with everything she had in her but sometimes she just needed a break from the testosterone levels. While she was nowhere near Natasha's fighting level, the woman often allowed her to spar with her. Mariana never expected to win, always expected to end up on her butt.

She knew that the quiet commands to fix her posture and not so subtle advice about her defences were the Black Widow's form of encouragement and praise. The woman wouldn't even be sparring with her if she was that terrible.

And Natasha liked to play matchmaker. Not just with Steve but she often dropped little hints about 'knowing a guy' for Mariana. To which Mariana would laugh and tell her to 'shut the hell up.'

Natasha's training – because she knew that's what it was, Natasha training her further not just sparring – was paying off though and she found many of the assassin's sharp commands playing in her head whenever she found herself in any type of altercation on the job. Frankly it had probably saved her life on more than one occasion.

Outside of the training, the women got on like wildfire, especially when Pepper joined them. There was one day not long before she finally moved into the tower that the three had all gone out for a shopping spree courtesy of Stark himself. They didn't even buy much but they did all go back to the tower and pamper themselves and each other for the rest of the night.

The bathed, put on face masks, layered themselves in body lotion, made themselves smell amazing, belted out lyrics off-key to the CD playing in the background. It was a great night. It was the best night. Pepper summed it up best.

"Oh, I needed this." She sighed contently as she plopped down on the penthouse couch beside Natasha who was sprawled diagonally. Marianna was curled up on the armchair with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"I think we all did," Natasha said.

"We'll do it again, right?"

"Of course!" Pepper exclaimed and the three burst into a fit of giggles. The two women sipped their champagne – Tony Stark was paying, of course it was champagne – while Mariana continued to nurse her Pepsi happily.

They settled in to watch an action movie by Pepper's demand and the others' agreement and Mariana woke up the next morning half draped across Natasha who was sleeping soundly with her head on Pepper's lap.

She smiled and closed her eyes again because she felt safe and there had been no nightmares that night so she was going to enjoy it dammit.

She had befriended the Avengers, been accepted into their family. She had every right to feel safe.


	5. Chapter 5: Traitors

If anything were ever to happen to any of her new-found family members, Mariana knew she would surely miss them. She knew that it would hurt, a physical pain in her heart. She knew this because she didn't do things by halves. When she trusted someone, she trusted them with her life. When she loved someone, they held her entire heart in their hands.

She trusted and loved each one of the Avengers – and Pepper of course – with everything she had. So every time they were out fighting she would always have a thought somewhere in the back of her mind. _Are they all okay?_ She listened intently to the comms. Did they sound hurt? Did they need any help?

She did this because she knew that if ever anything was to take one of them from her, even for just a while, she would miss them like hell. But while Mariana actively cared more about the feelings of others that her own, she did allow herself some moments of selfishness. It was in one of these moments that she found herself wondering that if she was to be gone one day, would they miss her?

. . .

Sam Wilson watched as Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov glared at each other fiercely from opposite sides of his kitchen. Steve stood tall with his fists clenched at his sides and a scowl on his face while Natasha's stance was a lot more relaxed, her face almost neutral except her eyes that promised pain.

"Look," the apartment owner began, "I am sure you guys could come to some form of agreement over this, no need to go to war."

"We are _not_ calling Quantum," Steve stated, calm and cold.

"It's our best option, Rogers. Her skills would be invaluable if we want any chance at doing anything at all about this situation. Even if we're just going to up and run, she could help us."

"First, we are not running from this. We are going to do something."

"Uh huh, and what are we going to do Steve? We can't get anywhere near the Triskellion without getting shot because it's not like we have any friends who could just teleport us in there right?" The sarcastic tone of the Black Widow almost made Sam chuckle.

"Natasha, Quantum is an asset and I am in no way denying that but I will not drag her into something this dangerous."

"Sorry to interrupt, but isn't Quantum an Avenger herself? Doesn't she get a choice in whether or not she gets involved? I'm pretty sure she's proven she can handle herself to be on your team in the first place."

"That isn't his point, Sam. But his point is moot because she is already involved. She's a SHIELD consultant Steve and HYDRA has been inside SHIELD this entire time so there is no way in hell they don't already know about her. You think they don't see her value? You think they won't want to try to recruit her to their side? She's already involved, Steve. She's already in danger."

"Natasha, she's practically a kid." The Avengers pointedly ignored Sam's raised eyebrow at that statement. They had both already accepted he was trustworthy and Mariana openly expressed her lack of care for the public knowing her identity. The mask was just to please Fury at this point.

"I know. I never said I liked it Steve but we have to call her, at least to warn her so we may as well ask for her help. She always offers her help Steve and no one ever lets her help. Extremis happened and Stark said nothing because he didn't want her involved or in danger. Clint has had plenty of missions go wrong and refused to ask for her help for the same reasons. She probably thinks we don't trust her enough to ask for her help!"

Steve seemed to soften a little and Sam had questions because he knew the Avengers must be close to have the kind of team relationship that they do but their soft spot for the apparently young Quantum was almost familial…

"I'm calling her," Natasha stated, already pulling out the burner phone she'd picked up on the way to the veteran's home. Steve said nothing, just looked elsewhere. Sam watched as Natasha dialled the number and held the cell to her ear. It rang out and she frowned.

"She always answers."

"Never parts from her cell," Steve added warily.

Natasha dialled again. It didn't even ring.

"Maybe she's heard the news and is trying to lay low for a while?"

Steve didn't look sure but wearily conceded. "Let's hope so."

. . .

By the time Steve, Natasha and Sam returned to the Avengers Tower, just to stop in and let them know they were alive and introduce Falcon, Steve and Natasha's anxiety over Quantum's lack of communication had not quelled. Yet they were hopeful they would find her waiting in the tower with everyone else.

They didn't.

In fact, they were practically attacked by Clint the second they stepped out of the elevator. Tony, Bruce and Thor were not far behind him.

"Have you heard from Mari? Was she with you?" Steve shook his head wordlessly in reply and Barton let out a long string of curses. "I can't get through to her and she's not at the apartment. Where is she?"

"Calm down Barton. It's Mariana, she's a smart kid so she probably heard about what was going on and hit the ground. If SHIELD knows about her then so do the HYDRA douchebags and she probably knows that."

Sam spluttered, "Kid? How young is she?"

The Avengers shared a glance before Bruce cleared his throat and spoke "She's not really a kid, 18 almost 19 but she's a kid to us so…"

"Huh."

. . .

A week passed and the crime-fighters had received no word from their little sister.

Natasha was dedicating most of her time to sorting out the HYDRA fiasco and creating new covers for the future. She stayed focused on those tasks and rarely let her mind drift to the missing seventh member of their rag-tag team of heroes.

When her thoughts did stray to her little sister, Natasha would likely not admit aloud to the worry that gnawed at her stomach as each day passed without word. _It's only been a week,_ she would think. _She'll be okay._ She wanted to believe it. With everything she had, Natasha Romanov wanted to believe that was true.

But even as she said the same words to her partner only eight days after SHIELD's fall - even as she clasped his shoulder in her own affectionate way and he nodded slowly, hand reaching up to cover hers and whisper _I know_ – she was aware that she was trying to convince herself of the words just as much as she was trying to convince the others.

Steve and Sam spent the week in the tower, preparing to launch their search for the missing, recently discovered to not be dead, Sargent Barnes. In that time, Steve explained the close relationship each Avenger held with their missing member, explained how it was just as important to find her as to find Bucky _so yes, if there is a lead found for Mariana we follow it too._

Sam caught on quick and continued to wonder what inspired such protectiveness of one woman, or as he had discovered: _girl._ He didn't question, just agreed and reassured the Captain that he would do anything he had to in order to help. Steve was grateful. Grateful because he wasn't going to be out looking by himself, because he had a friend like Sam behind him, watching his back.

But he was also worried, very much so, about Mariana. He still held onto that hope that maybe she was hiding out, maybe she had no means to contact them, maybe they'd get lucky and stumble upon her and maybe he could bring her home. But he remembered the war, when one of the soldiers went missing they rarely held much hope to find them again and he couldn't help but be glad that this was not the 40s and Mariana was not a soldier.

Thor had had plans to leave for Asgard but a few days later yet delayed those plans in hopes of Mariana returning soon so that he could ensure her safety before leaving for his home. He was potentially the most optimistic of the entire team.

"Mariana is a fine warrior and will do well to find her way home. We have no need to fret my friends." His optimism did little to lighten the mood of the tower as the others trudged on with their days and the God kept his worry at the very back of his mind because he had _seen_ her in battle, he had _seen_ her fight her way out of many bad situations.

With his own two eyes he had seen her come out on top every time, every seemingly impossible predicament she had found herself in. For some reason though, that did not ease the ache that grew in his heart with each day that passed without her bouncing around their home.

Bruce had gotten better with his control since New York. After Mariana had begun joining him for Tai Chi and breathing exercises he had found himself needing the methods less and less until once every couple of days or when he got especially stressed was enough. He had a theory that he had begun to subconsciously associate Mariana with the calm feeling of the exercises themselves since she was almost always around for them.

With her gone - though he still only really required the exercise every other day – he found himself wishing for her calming presence around, where he knew she was safe and would feel a little more at ease.

He tried not to dwell on her absence as much as possible though, fearful that it would set him off if his thoughts concerning her well-being became too dark. He was holding a good streak and didn't plan to break it any time soon. Even if he did feel the Hulk nudging at the edges of his mind and did know if he was let loose he would smash anything in his way to find her, because even the Hulk liked their little sister.

As soon as the files were leaked, Tony had JARVIS scanning everything, taking down the most sensitive of the information like the weapons blueprints and scrubbing the information from the index. In doing so, JARVIS alerted him to a file regarding one Mariana Hadley. Tony had had it copied to his personal Starkpad to read after he had finished working on the newest suit.

He had been spending a lot of time in his workshop – more than usual but he hadn't quite fallen down the rabbit hole yet – but he ate and he slept when expected and read the file, discovering plenty more about their youngest and finding new reasons to feel uneasy about her disappearance.

He revealed to Pepper one night, as they lay in their bed - neither sleeping and Tony carding his fingers through her hair – that he _missed the little tike_. Pepper and let out a breath of a laugh against his chest.

"I worry," she'd said. "I worry about you lot every time you go out and fight some new bad guy. I worry about you never coming home, just like I'm worrying about Mariana right now." She shifted to look up at him and Tony tilted his head to look her in the eyes. "But you always come home. All of you. So she will too, she has to."

Clint was restless. With no SHIELD he had no missions. With no missions he had no distractions. With no distraction he worried about Mariana. He didn't know where she was, what she was doing, if she was safe, hell, if she was even alive. At that thought he had almost dented one of the walls in the communal living room with his fist. He stopped himself punching a solid wall just before he broke his hand.

Everyone was thinking similar thoughts because while she may have been training under Black Widow herself for the past months, she was still young and reckless. That she had proved on many occasions.

So they worried, because she was family

. . .

Before they knew it, one week had turned into two and two weeks had turned into three. Then it had been five months and Steve and Sam were bringing Bucky home with them. His memory was mainly fragments but he had himself together enough to know Steve and feel safe with Steve and go home with Steve.

Everyone was happy for Steve to finally have his friend back home but Sam could sense the atmosphere get even worse in the tower over the next few days, even Bucky could sense it but he thought that was because he was around now until he spoke to Steve and _No, Buck it's not because of you. One of ours is missing_.

It was another two weeks before Clint lost it.

Everyone was together in the living room for a 'movie night' – a tradition Tony had suggested but Mariana had absolutely insisted upon – when it happened. Natasha had asked Thor to pass the popcorn.

"What the hell are we doing?" Everyone turned to look at Clint quizzically at the steely question.

"Watching Die Hard?" Tony tried. And that was it.

Clint scoffed. "Yeah. Are we even trying anymore? Were we ever? Or have we just given the fuck up?"

"Barton what are you on about?"

"You want to know what I'm on about Cap? I'm on about the fact that we are sitting here watching a movie like we don't give a flying fuck that our little sister has been missing for over six months. Have you all just forgotten about her? Given up any kind of hope that she's ever coming home?"

"Clint, you know that's not true," Bruce stated, leaning forward in his seat.

"Isn't it though?" Clint practically shouted, jumping to his feet. On instinct, Bucky found himself reaching for a blade but stopped himself. "Isn't that exactly what's happening? You all think she's gone, don't you? You think Mari is dead."

There was a long silence where no one had words.

"I mean, she might very well be, right? You guys managed to find an ex-assassin trained to be invisible and we haven't found a trace of a 19-year-old girl with a hell of a lot less training. She could have died the day the hellicarriers fell for all we know! She probably did because we all damn well know she would have contacted us by now! Unless of course she was taken by HYDRA and frankly I'm not sure which scenario is worse at this point!"

Bucky sucked in a breath because even though he didn't know the girl, Steve cared about her and honestly, he didn't wish HYDRA upon anybody. Sam watched on in concern. Then they were all shocked because Natasha was on her feet and in Barton's face.

"Don't you dare say that Barton!" Natasha was shouting, but she didn't do that often and the archer flinched back at the sound. "Don't you dare say that about her. We haven't given up but we have nothing to go on. She's alive, she has to be."

"Her parents were HYDRA."

Everyone's world seemed to stop for a moment and then they were almost giving themselves whiplash as they swivelled to look at Tony upon his statement. He was looking down at his hands that were fiddling with the Starkpad in his lap.

Pepper ducked her head to get a better look at his face. "Tony?"

He sighed. "When I asked JARVIS to scan the information through he found the file SHIELD was keeping on her. And the other one HYDRA was keeping." He finally looked up, at each individual face.

"She was being watched by both of them?" Steve asked.

Tony shook his head. "Neither had been updated in a while, she had been indexed by SHIELD but HYDRA had a file that went back further. Her parents were Susan and Mark Hadley, they were apparently SHIELD scientists but they died when Mariana was eight. She went into foster care and bounced around until she ran when she was sixteen and with her abilities she was pretty difficult to find. Then SHIELD picked her up when she saved Fury from a bullet."

"How do you know they were HYDRA then?" Sam asked from his seat by Bruce.

Tony hesitated. "The file HYDRA kept on her detailed some…experiments…done on her as a child from when she was born until she was taken into foster care." There was a general gasp from everyone. "Her parents were trusted, they were named as 'loyal researchers'."

Tony looked sick, as did everyone else. Pepper had a hand over her mouth and was quick to excuse herself, untangling herself from Tony's arms as he softly told her to take her time. Natasha had a very dangerous glint in her eyes and her hand was hovering scarily close to where they all knew she kept one of her knives. Steve, Thor and Sam looked scarily pale, contemplating the cruelty of a person to be capable of doing such a thing.

Clint was completely tensed up and seemed like he was in some kind of catatonic state at Stark's words. Bucky sat silently in the corner, hoping no one would notice how his breathing had picked up or how he was clenching and unclenching his fists. He was aware of what HYDRA had done to him and the thought of a little girl going through even a fraction of that made what was left of his soul scream.

"They left her alone for a while once she was in the system, probably didn't have enough access and gave up. But then she got on SHIELD's radar and they took notice." Tony rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms as if he was in pain. "JARVIS has the file on his system. I'm going to the lab."

With that Stark left. Natasha swiftly followed his lead but in the opposite direction – the training room.

"How could a parent do such a thing to their child?"

"I don't know buddy," Steve replied to Thor as he rubbed his hands over his face. "I honestly don't know." Steve, Thor and Bucky all watched as Sam approached the still unmoving Clint Barton, knowing the two had built up some kind of friendship over the past months.

"Clint?"

"Do you think she remembers?" They all recoiled a bit at the implication of the archer's question. "She was eight when it stopped. I can remember what was happening to me when I was that age, at least vaguely. Do you think she does?"

They all hesitated. If she _didn't_ remember and HYDRA _did_ have her right then – which was beginning to seem more and more likely by the second – would they be able to turn her to their side? And if she _did_ remember, why didn't she say anything and could she be just as easily turned against them?

Surprisingly, Bucky broke the silence. "Let me help." They looked at him and he shrugged. "I was trained to disappear, you said it yourself. I know every trick in the book so if she is running and she's reading from the same book, I can narrow it down for you. I don't exactly know how she thinks, but you guys do."

Steve instantly nodded, not bothering to confirm with the others who were also nodding behind him. "Okay."

. . .

 _ **Hey guys! :)**_

 _ **This is kind of important. First, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who has been reading this story, it means a lot. Second, I'm sorry updates have been getting slower but I hope you will bare with me.**_

 _ **School has been kicking my ass lately and a lot of other things have been piling on top of me so I haven't had much time for writing.**_

 _ **I have NOT forgotten about this story. I just hope you will understand that updates will be irregular at best.**_

 _ **That's it I think. Thank you.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Friends with a Nazi

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I know it has been a while and I feel i should warn you this now UPDATES WILL BE SLOW. it's in caps to catch the attention of those who like to skip A/Ns (I do it too sometimes).**

 **But, yeah, exams are coming up and frankly I haven't found the motivation to continue this until very recently.**

 **I tweaked some parts of the previous chapters but nothing that will affect the story line so you don't HAVE to go read them again, just grammatical stuff really. I have the next two chapters written but I will hold off on uploading them for now.**

 **Anyway, ENJOY! Don't be afraid to review and if you notice any mistakes that bug you please do inform me. I'll stop talking now. Well, typing.**

 **. . .**

Mariana should have expected this to happen. Well, maybe not this exactly but something like this. The missions she was being sent on recently had been becoming more and more dangerous and she'd been gaining her fair share of bruises even with the use of her powers. More than once when she had arrived at the rendezvous point there had been gunshots going off all around her.

Either the SHIELD agents were getting worse at their jobs or the bad guys were getting better at theirs. Her extractions used to be quiet, that's what made her so good at what she did. She got in and she got the agents out. Simple. It just _had_ to go and get complicated.

But while the extractions had been getting more dangerous than before, she could handle it without problem. She kind of grew to expect it of her missions these days and was more surprised to teleport in when all was quiet. She'd just never expected the SHIELD agents to turn their guns on her one day.

. . .

"Please, no, you don't have to do this! Please!" Mariana was struggling against the grip of the two SHIELD agents that had grabbed her as soon as she had teleported into the supposedly abandoned cabin. They had grabbed her, pulling her arms back behind her and the one on her left had jammed a pistol into her side. If she tried to teleport out she could end up taking them with her and he would most definitely shoot her in that case.

There was a third agent slowly walking towards their captive as she struggled. His expression was blank and he held onto a pistol of his own except it looked a little different. The barrel was a little shorter than a normal pistol's and the weapon itself was a lot chunkier.

"Actually, Quantum, we're under orders and while they'd prefer you alive, we can use force if you continue to resist."

Mariana froze. "Fury would never." She shook her head. "He wouldn't." Suddenly she desperately wished she hadn't been taking that tracking anklet off every chance she got until Fury finally gave up on it.

"You're right." The agent shrugged. "They're not Fury's orders, in fact, they're not even SHIELD's orders."

"You're traitors?"

The five agents in the room – yes, there were two more sitting at a nearby table playing cards – laughed.

"We're HYDRA," The one on her right hissed in her ear before the one right in front of her pulled the trigger.

. . .

She came to in a sterilised room of some kind and would have assumed she was in a hospital if it weren't for the two soldiers standing on either side of the door with what looked like M-16s in their hands and pistols like those held by the agent from before strapped to their thighs.

One of them pressed a communication device in their ear and spoke in a monotone. "Sir, she's awake." With that he returned to his original stance and paid her no further attention. She was strapped down to bed by her wrists and ankles. She pulled at the binds with no luck and considered teleporting but there was no tell-tale buzz beneath her skin and the familiar ache in her shoulder reminded her of the Bruster incident.

Her breathing picked up at the thought.

The door opened and an older man in a grey suit entered the room followed by two women in lab coats. "Mariana!" he exclaimed like they were old friends. He looked 50-odds with a receding hairline, clean shaven and with a round stomach. His smile was warm and inviting but one look at his cold eyes and a voice in her head was creaming for Mariana to run as fast and as far from him as possible.

She raised an eyebrow. "Call me insensitive but, do I know you? I don't remember ever being friends with a Nazi."

He chuckled. "We're not Nazis."

"Isn't that exactly what HYDRA is?" she spat back in response.

He sighed and moved on. "I apologise for the tactics used by my agents to bring you here, they get over-eager sometimes and we needed to take your marvellous abilities into account."

She scoffed. "Let me guess, next you're going to offer me a place in your little cult so that we can 'change the world' and 'free the masses'."

"We are not a cult either. But that is essentially the pitch."

"No."

"You don't even know what we have planned."

"Don't need to, the answer will still be no."

"I was hoping you would be a bit more co-operative. I didn't want to have to revert to familiar techniques for your compliance."

" _Familiar techniques?_ " she practically screeched.

"Yes, when you were a child-"

"I know exactly what happened to me when I was a child thank you very much and I am now well aware that HYDRA was behind it all too. What the hell is it that you want from me exactly? My blood? DNA samples? You want to re-create my powers, right?"

"We did. It never worked, though we are more than willing to try again. Maybe you were too young the first time for it to have worked. But what we really want is for you to join us. Work with us, Mariana. We can save the world, save everyone!"

"Let me guess, by killing them?"

"Those who will not comply, yes, and those in a position to oppose us."

"Oppose you, like…fight back?"

"Yes."

"Does that include the Avengers?"

"Among others." Mariana was pretty sure her heart stopped for a moment before she forced herself to put on an emotionless façade.

"No."

He sighed again and turned to the lab coats. "Look her over, take some samples and then send for Markus." They nodded and he left the room, followed by the two soldiers.

. . .

'Markus' turned out to be a tall man who told the lab coats to piss off which left Mariana alone with him, still strapped down. He stepped forward after a moment and unlatched the bindings on her wrists, allowing her to undo the ones on her ankles. She didn't take her eyes off of him as she did though.

He looked to be only a few years older than her, maybe late twenties, and had brown hair. He pulled up a chair and sat on it across from the bed where she sat and watched him warily.

"Let's be clear about this, I'm only letting you out of those so we can talk. I am more than capable of taking you down if you try to run and will not hesitate to do so. I may even enjoy it. Now before we begin, has anyone informed you as to what is going on?"

She didn't reply and he shook his head. "Fine," he ground out, "I guess I'll do that part then. SHIELD is down. We – HYDRA – have been inside the entire time and have been steadily increasing in number. Nick Fury is dead and Captain America is on the run with Black Widow."

Mariana's eyes widened and she started to hyperventilate. Steve and Natasha? Nick? _Oh God, no._ What about the others? Were they safe, did they know? Did they know about her?

"Oh calm down. Now you've probably noticed that you can't use your powers at the moment and you can thank me for that. When we realised the effect of those weapons Bruster and his goons had on you we decided to look into them and I developed a way to compact the technology into a pistol. Now I tweaked the tech a bit so the blast didn't burn your skin like the last one."

"Still hurts like a bitch," she replied while rolling her shoulder.

He grinned and shrugged. "I'll maybe work on it later. For now though, we can't have you hopping out of here so we're going to monitor you until your abilities begin coming back then dose you again. We'll work out dosages and I'll keep tweaking to accommodate the timeframes and distances needed. Basically, we're going to make it so that even if you do run, you won't be getting too far."

Mariana rolled her eyes. "Oh is that all?" she muttered.

"No. You will be under constant observation and will undergo daily screenings of your physical and emotional state as well as the state of your powers. You'll also be receiving training and we will eventually force your compliance if you do not readily agree."

"Training for what? What kind of observation? Force?"

"I'll take you to your room now Mariana, you will be with us for quite a while."

. . .

The first time she tried to escape was the first time she felt the familiar buzz of her powers returning. She had tried to hide it from the lab coats screening her but something tipped them off and one of them pulled a gun. Mariana reacted and kicked it out of the lab coat's hand, having not been restrained for the screening.

She took the two down and left them unconscious as she peeked out through the door. There were two soldiers walking in the opposite direction down the hall. She tried to sneak past but her trainers mad a squeak on the tiles and she was forced to teleport to dodge a bullet. She found herself in a supply closet four feet away and was quickly caught.

"Four feet," Markus had mocked. "Not too impressive."

. . .

The second and third attempts had gone similarly and after the third one of the higher-ups decided she needed to be taught a lesson and that the experience could be useful as an attempt to gain compliance.

Markus had shown up at her room that night – her fifteenth with HYDRA – and wore a malicious grin. There were two soldiers flanking him.

"You know," he drawled "Weapons experts tend to be the best suited to use them. We know just how to use them to make someone scream."

She'd been dragged back to her room the next morning, clothes torn and bloody, body bruised and cheeks wet from tears. The treatment got worse with each escape attempt and Markus seemed to enjoy it more, getting more creative every time.

She didn't stop trying to escape though.

. . .

"You can do better."

Mariana growled in response to Harry, her trainer's comment. She'd been with HYDRA for an unknown amount of time and had grown to hate all of them with an equal passion. Except for Markus. She reserved a special place in hell for him to go to when she finally got to turn his methods back on him, because she'd promised herself she would.

She continued training, which was more like outright fighting except he was under orders not to kill her. She ducked and weaved and kicked and punched but she always ended up with a knife to her throat or a gun in her face.

It was frustrating, she was tired and her body was aching from the beating just a few days prior for another attempt at freedom. She pushed herself up off the mat once again and resumed her stance. Going through the motions of the fight almost robotically as her thoughts strayed.

Did they miss her? Were they looking for her? Had anything changed? Were they all still okay? She knew that HYDRA's plan had failed and they had had to retreat back into the darkness from which they came thanks to a certain Captain, a spider and apparently some dude with wings. _Falcon_ she'd heard one of the soldiers say. Had she been replaced?

She shook her head at the thought. _They wouldn't. We're family._

Mariana's thoughts then drifted to her powers. They were dosing her – they said dosing but they were really just shooting her once a day – more regularly and her powers were bouncing back quicker. She must have been building up some kind of immunity and they obviously knew that too.

Mariana was abruptly pulled from her thoughts as she slammed back into the mat. "Get up," Harry barked.

The next fight she gave everything to, her full attention, all of her frustration and anger. Harry was underneath her on the floor and they were struggling after a few minutes. Mariana punched him again and again, raining her fists down on his face and trapping his arms to his sides on the floor with her legs.

Two soldier had to drag her off of the battered trainer. She was punished for that too. Markus seemed to go harder on her that night, like she had personally hurt him and she felt a surge of pride that she had gained some form of emotional reaction from him after all that time.

She had a new trainer the next day. Bigger, harsher. She didn't pull any punches because now she had a plan and if she wanted it to work, she actually needed this training.

. . .

Her next escape attempt actually wasn't much of an attempt. She was inclined to call it a success.

She was right about the immunity because two months later – yes, she had waited two months before another attempt because she needed to if the plan was ever going to work – the dosages were barely affecting her powers for more than two hours. They tried to up the dosage a little by putting more of a kick behind the shot. That shot did burn her skin and knocked her out for almost two hours.

When she woke up she was in pain but her skin was buzzing like she remembered it used to at her full power and relished in the feeling she had missed oh so very much. The two lab coats that always screened her were with her in that hospital room again. They noticed she was awake and one of them checked the monitor she was hooked up to before nodding to the other.

They didn't seem to be too concerned so Mariana assumed whatever used to tip them off about the return of her powers was showing up normal at that moment. She grinned. Then she was gone.

She stumbled as she materialised in a forest outside what looked like a large complex made of some kind of grey stone and surrounded by an electrified fence. Apparently her powers weren't completely up to their original level just yet because now that she paid closer attention the buzz was ebbing and flowing.

She groaned. _Great._

The complex in front of her must have been where she had been held. She opted to flee into the forest on foot for a while until the buzzing reached a peak and she could teleport a little farther.

Problem was, the burn from being shot with the energy blast on her right shoulder was causing pain to shoot through her entire body every time the injury was jostled as she ran. Then the alarm went off behind her and she didn't dare to look back, biting her lip through the pain and moving forward.

It wasn't long before the sounds of heavy footfalls came from behind her and were gaining on her. Fast. Mariana made a quick decision and climbed the closest tree that looked sturdy enough to hold her weight. She got in position and remained as still as possible as the four soldiers approached.

"Well, where is she?" one asked.

One of the others looked down at a device in his hand and she quickly realised she was being tracked, she was wearing clothes given by them and they were probably bugged. _Shit._

"Right on top of us apparently." Just as the four guards started to look up and the first one spotted her she readied herself to jump down.

"Damn right I am," she muttered to herself before vaulting out of the tree. She pushed off one soldier's shoulder with her foot as she fell, throwing herself toward another, both had been raising their guns.

As she landed, ignoring the pain in her shoulder from the impact, she rolled and picked up one of their dropped guns. She twisted as she came up out of the roll and pointed the gun at them with both hands holding it steady. The first two were still recovering from her first attack so her attention honed in on the others.

First, the one with his gun already pointed at her. She fired two shots and he went down. She fired another shot at the other guy and he dropped too. Her shoulder was on fire at that point but she was a lousy shot with just her left hand and would prefer to get an accurate shot than die to avoid a little pain.

The soldier she had kicked off was on his feet again and she fired a shot at his knee to bring him down and another to his torso. By the time she focussed her attention on the last guy standing he was firing his back-up weapon at her and the bullet was grazing her left arm as she fired at his head.

He went down and she scrambled towards them. She approached the one closest to her size and began stripping him of his gear. She moved as quick as she could with her injuries and was soon wearing the tactical gear that was just a little too big and she hoped it wasn't bugged too. She checked as quickly and surely as she could.

Mariana spared a second to grab his weapons as well, a pistol for the thigh holster and two knives. One she stuffed in her right boot - which surprisingly fit her well enough – and began to run again.

There was some shouting behind her not too long after and she found herself growling in frustration at the constant shift of her powers. She couldn't go anywhere yet because they were all over the place.

The voices were getting closer and she spotted some sort of ravine or drop and made a quick decision. She ran toward the drop and as she approached she dropped to slide down on her butt with her feet in front of her so as when she reached the bottom she could easily pick up and run.

But she was getting out of breath, her shoulder was killing her and her left arm was bleeding like hell so she was slowing down and she was kicking herself for it. They caught up to her. She wasn't sure how but two of them caught up. A man and a woman dressed in the same tactical gear as she now was. They seemed to realise the implications of this if the force with which they came at her was anything to go by.

Thankful she had taken the knives now she brought up the one she'd attached to her belt and slashed at the woman's arm as she tried to punch her. They fought and soon the man joined and it was two-on-one. Mariana was tired and they landed a few hits but she managed to take them down.

She started running again, well, jogging really.

They just kept coming, HYDRA agents intercepted her on her way to nowhere in particular and at least three had their hands on her when her powers surged and she teleported.

They were all disorientated by the change of scenery and Mariana used that to twist out of one of their grips and slam her right foot into the gut of another. The third recovered and Mariana ducked under an impressive right hook, using the movement to retrieve her second knife - having left the first in the previous woman's throat – and also twist to kick the agent's feet out from under him.

She ducked a few more punches and swiped with her knife before finally realising they were in the middle of the street at night. It was pitch black but she caught sight of a homeless woman fleeing from the scene. Her distraction cost her and before she knew it she was on the ground, held down by two of her assailants as another recovered on the ground nearby.

"You need to stop fighting us," One of them hissed at her. "You have nowhere to run. If you go anywhere near your superhero pals we will know exactly where you are and we will put a bullet in each of their heads to get to you."

Mariana bucked and thrashed, aggravating her injuries further as she fought to get free. The words weren't registering in her mind and all she could think was _I have to get away from them._

But the third guy was up and was helping to hold her down and finally she was listening as the agents threatened her family. Threatened to kill all of them; Clint, Steve, Tony, Natasha, Pepper, Thor and they couldn't kill Bruce but they could damn well set the Hulk loose on a city and wouldn't that just _destroy_ him.

She wasn't fighting anymore, she was holding back the tears and biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming every curse she knew. She couldn't let them hurt her family. It may have been an empty threat but she had no way to know.

 _She couldn't take the risk._


	7. Chapter 7: Did we Start a Thing

**A/N: Hey! So updates will continue to be slow but study leave is coming up in a few weeks and I plan to use some of it to continue writing this if I can because who needs to study?**

 **I want to say thank you to the guest who left a review and to Kayly - to whom I say: Your wish is my command. :)**

 **Oh, and, SPOILERS ahead for DAREDEVIL season 1. Well, kind of but not really since it is an AU but you have been warned.**

 **Enjoy!**

. . .

Mariana did not want to go back to being HYDRA's prisoner or their lab rat. If Markus' torture was her punishment for just _attempting_ to escape she couldn't even begin to fathom what the punishment for being so close to succeeding would be. Didn't want to either.

Her body hurt like hell and her head was beginning to join in the mix with the worst headache she'd ever had. She was wondering if maybe she'd hit her head at some point and had been ignoring it until now.

With blurred vision from both the unshed tears and the black spots dancing before her eyes, fighting back was far too much to ask of her at that point. Luckily for her, a kind soul decided she shouldn't have to.

. . .

The HYDRA agents were trying to drag her onto her feet when it happened. One of them was pressing down on her shoulders and she was continuously fighting the urge to scream in pain, the other was holding down her legs which she had been thrashing about previously and the third sat on her torso, his weight pressing down on her potentially broken ribs.

Then the weight was gone from her torso and she could breathe properly again. Her legs and shoulders were quickly freed as the other agents scurried to help their comrade. Mariana rolled to her left and pulled her arms and legs under herself to try to push off the ground.

She'd been given an opportunity to get away but the state of her injuries was preventing that and she quickly flopped back down, opting instead to discover the reason for her chance at freedom.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight.

A man dressed in red with a mask that had horns on top was flipping and kicking in the air, lashing out with two wooden sticks. She watched the first agent drop. The second. The third. The man in the red stood in the middle of the street then for a moment, placing his sticks in a holster on the leg of his suit, breathing heavily before tilting his head in her direction. He had a small cut on his cheek, presumably from the fight.

"You okay?" His voice was gruff and she assumed it was deliberate, like he was disguising his real voice.

"Oh God," she managed. "Did we start a thing?"

The masked man tilted his head again. "You hit your head." It was not a question.

"It hurts like hell so I assume so."

"Your ribs are pretty bad too."

"Uh huh."

"And your shoulder is burned."

"It is indeed."

"You've also been shot."

"Grazed. And I noticed, how did you?"

He didn't answer. "Why were they after you?" he asked instead.

She hesitated, then went for the truth. "They were holding me prisoner. I just escaped. Could you help me up please?"

He approached her almost immediately, hands finding purchase on some of the few places she wasn't injured already and instead of pulling her up, he merely guided her and supported her weight a little.

"Prisoner?" he questioned once she was upright and supporting herself against a wall.

"It is a very long story and right now I just want to be anywhere but here and out of these clothes. I still don't know if they have a tracker on them."

He tilted his head as if listening for something before shaking his head. "There's no tracker."

She raised an eyebrow. "How did you… You know what? Nevermind. I've seen weirder crap than whatever you have going on. Point still stands, I should get out of here."

"You escaped your kidnappers and you don't know where you ran to? Usually people have a direction in mind. Like home."

She sighed. "Yeah well, I didn't exactly run here. Well, there was most definitely running involved but it's not exactly what got me here."

"What did."

Mariana took a moment to look him up and down. "Are you enhanced?"

"Enhanced?"

"Yeah." She paused before continuing tentatively. "Like, Avengers style enhanced."

He hesitated. "I have heightened senses. It's how I knew you were in trouble. I heard the fight."

"So…you heard what they said?"

He slowly nodded. "He threatened your family and named some of them as well. Like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. I assume that would make you Quantum which means you teleported here."

She huffed out a laugh and winced at the pain. "If you knew all that why the hell were you asking?"

He shrugged and smiled a little for the first time. "Wanted to hear it from you yourself. Not every day an Avenger admits to being saved by a lowly vigilante."

"And with that I return to my original question. Did we start a thing? Y'know, masked do-gooders, how many of you are there? I've been out of the loop for a while."

"Half the city thinks you're dead." Mariana blinked. "People were wondering why Quantum wasn't seen at any of the recent battles and the Avengers were being bombarded with questions. The good Captain didn't appear to have a choice and announced you officially missing in action a few months ago."

She took a deep breath to calm herself before nodding. "Okay, good. If they still think I'm missing or dead then I don't have to go back just yet. They won't be in danger."

"They could have been lying." He indicated the three unconscious agents.

"I can't take that risk. HYDRA are capable of a lot of things, I wouldn't put killing the Avengers past them."

"Those guys are with HYDRA?"

"Yup, which is why I have to get out of here, wherever here is." She pushed off the wall and struggled to stay upright.

"Hell's Kitchen. That's where we are. If you want, I have a friend who could help patch you up no questions asked."

Mariana raised an eyebrow again. "No questions?"

"Not for you."

"And you are perfectly fine with me seeing your friend's face? Not afraid I could put them in danger or find out your identity under that mask?"

"I have something for that."

She considered it, then her shoulder screamed in pain as she shifted and she agreed. "Lead the way, and for God's sake go slow I'm injured here."

"Sure thing." He smiled again.

"You should smile more often you know," she announced later as they traversed the shadows of New York. "Less intimidating."

"Yes," he deadpanned, "I shall fight the crime of this city by blinding my enemies with my winning smile."

"At least do it for the poor victims, you've probably made some of them shit themselves."

"I'll consider it."

"What do they call you anyway?"

"I've gone by many names," he stated in an exaggerated deep voice. Mariana mustered enough energy to pathetically smack his arm. "Currently Daredevil."

"Previously?"

"The man in the mask, The devil of Hell's Kitchen, The mask."

"I sense the running themes here are your mask and you being the devil. Which is fitting I guess, if you consider the name of the city."

"Kind of the point I believe."

They found themselves at an apartment complex and Mariana struggled up the fire escape after Daredevil and then tumbling painfully through the window after him. He helped her to her feet and guided her to the couch. One look around told her the place was abandoned. He left the room to make a call and by the time he came back Mariana had almost passed out.

He woke her up just as a woman slipped through the front door of the apartment. Mariana first noticed the white cloth covering her face and the medical supplies bag over her shoulder. She turned her gaze to Daredevil.

"Really? A piece of cloth was your brilliant solution?"

"My mask hides my identity." He stepped back and the woman approached.

"You got a name?"

Mariana told her her first name only. The apparent nurse asked Mariana to just call her Nurse and she readily agreed if it meant her injuries would get tended to. They did. Daredevil had left the room and 'Nurse' had requested she remove her top to gain easier access.

"So how did _you_ meet Devil Man? He beat on your pursuers too?"

"I found him bleeding in a dumpster."

Mariana blinked. Then had to fight a laugh because _ow, pain._ "Sounds like a Clint story," she muttered instead. As promised, Nurse didn't ask. Once she was fully tended to Daredevil returned to the room as Nurse was offering Mariana some painkillers.

"They'll take the edge off," she was saying.

Mariana shook her head. "Nah, you're alright. Save them for superman over there, he's more likely to need them than I am."

Nurse continued to hold out the painkillers. "You have four bruised ribs, one is broken, a really bad burn on your shoulder, three open knife wounds, a black eye and a mild concussion. You're going to be in a lot of pain."

"I've been in worse pain for longer, I'll be okay. Promise."

Nurse kept trying to push the painkillers until Daredevil spoke up. "You can't force her to take them, she says she can handle it then she probably can. You going to go home Mariana?"

It was a loaded question and she sighed. Was she? Could she risk that? "No."

"No?" Nurse asked. "Why not?"

"Not safe."

"They threatened her family," Daredevil informed Nurse.

"I can't take the risk."

Nurse sighed. "Who the hell are you kid?"

"Thought you said no questions."

Daredevil smirked. "May have lied."

"Ass. Look, my name is Mariana, I don't know if I should tell you anymore because it could put you in danger. People are after me and they are not the type to give up easily so my only option right now seems to be to keep running. I guess I'll try to lay low for a few days and heal up a little then get the hell out of dodge."

Nurse said nothing. Then she dragged Daredevil off into the other room and Mariana laid her head back against the couch. A few minutes later they returned.

"Stay here tonight," Nurse said. "Owners moved out a few weeks ago so it's empty for now."

"Stay quiet though," Daredevil advised. "Close the blinds, lock the windows and doors too."

Mariana rolled her eyes. "Sure dad."

Nurse chuckled. "I need to go, stay safe kid."

"You too Nurse."

Then it was just her and Daredevil.

"You weren't lying."

She looked at him. "About what?"

"Being in more pain than this before. I listened to your heartbeat, you weren't lying and that doesn't sit right with me."

"Okay, well, ignoring the total invasion of privacy right there, it is pretty cool that you can do that. I like it."

"You're avoiding the subject."

"What? No."

Daredevil sighed. He remained standing motionlessly in the centre of the room before he moved off to the kitchen area and pulled a wooden chair from beside a small round table over. He placed the chair facing Mariana and sat down, leaving about a foot of space between them.

"You're still covered in blood."

Mariana looked down and winced first when she realised he was right and second when she realised Nurse had not said anything about it.

"So I am."

"A lot of it isn't yours."

Mariana looked up. She stared at his face, at least what she could see of it, for a few seconds. He didn't even twitch at the searching look she gave him but his lips were pulled down in concern. She may not have been able to look into the man's eyes but she felt she could trust him. He had saved her. Mariana looked away.

"I killed them." It was barely a whisper and she kind of wished he hadn't heard.

"Who?"

Mariana sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that were once more trying to overflow. "Six of the agents sent after me." The tears fell anyway. "I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to but I didn't have a choice. Oh God, oh God I killed them!"

Daredevil shifted to sit on the couch beside Mariana and wrapped her up in his arms, feeling oddly protective of the young woman. Her heartbeat told him that she was young and he knew that as an Avenger she must be accustomed to violence. That also didn't sit right with him.

"I believe you," he said. "They would have killed you."

They stayed like that for several minutes before Mariana extracted herself from the embrace, having calmed down a little, and gave a watery smile.

"Thanks."

"You going to be okay?"

"I think so."

"You going to consider going home?"

She paused. "Maybe."

He smiled sadly. "I'm going to go now, stay safe, lock up and don't go needing vigilante help again any time soon." He started toward the window.

"Hero," she interrupted just before he ducked out. "Hero help. I used to think I wasn't a hero too, then some people…my family convinced me otherwise. You saved me tonight and I have a feeling you've saved a lot of other people too, hell, you got yourself a snazzy costume, it must be a regular gig. Thank you by the way. I never did say that, at least not for saving me."

"Whenever you need me."

"Shall I light up the bat signal?"

He grinned. "Goodbye Mariana. Think about going home. They must miss you." Then he was gone.

"I know," she whispered to the empty room.

. . .

It was a slow day at Nelson and Murdock the next day. Matt considered telling Foggy and Karen what had happened the night before, who he had met, but ultimately decided against it. It wasn't his place to reveal her identity to anyone and as she said, it could put them in danger.

Foggy got the call just after noon. Brett apparently had another 'interesting' case for them to consider. Matt singled her out the second they entered the precinct. There was a certain buzz about the air around her that was extremely distinctive, he assumed it was power-related. It felt much more prominent than the night before.

When the lawyers entered the interrogation room Mariana was slumped in her seat with her head in her hands saying over and over "I didn't do this. I didn't do this."

"Officer, could we have a moment with our client?" Mariana looked up at them slowly at Foggy's question.

"Client? You're taking this case? Great." With that the interrogator left the room and Foggy guided Matt to a seat facing Mariana.

"My name is Matt Murdock, this is my associate Foggy Nelson, we're here to offer our services in representing you."

She looked both of them over before her watery gaze settled on Matt. "Cut yourself shaving?"

And he knew right then that she knew. He hadn't even thought, didn't consider the possibility that he could be recognised by a cut of all things. He turned to Foggy. "Get her out of here, we need to go back to the office." He turned to Mariana. "All of us."

So Foggy obediently opened the door and called over the officer from before without question. "You charging her?"

"Not right now, just asking some questions."

"Charge her or get a warrant, otherwise we're out of here."

The officer nodded. "Sounds good. Don't even know why we dragged her in to be honest, not exactly a reliable witness testimony."

Foggy nodded and soon enough the three were outside and hailing a cab. They reached the office pretty quickly and completely silent.

"You're back quick!" Karen said as they entered. "And you brought a guest. Client?"

"Not exactly," Matt said as he closed the door.

Mariana crossed her arms. "You're a blind-lawyer-hero?" She had already determined by the fact Matt didn't mind his partners here that they knew.

Foggy and Karen's jaws dropped. Matt shrugged. "I'm catholic too."

"So you're a blind-catholic-lawyer-hero that was called The Devil?"

"Essentially."

"So cool," she breathed.

"And you identified me by a cut on my jaw."

"Indeed."

"Impressive."

"Thanks."

"Wait," Foggy interrupted. "Wait, wait wait, you know? She knows? How does she know? Well she just told us but how did you two meet? _When_ did you two meet?"

"Last night," Matt said at the same time Mariana said "He saved me."

"Coffee?" Karen offered.

"Please."

. . .

"So are you going to reveal to us the reason you were arrested?" Foggy asked as they all gathered in the conference room. Mariana wrapped her hands around the hot mug.

"Last night, there was a witness. Homeless woman. She ran long before Daredevil made his appearance but apparently stayed long enough to see a nineteen-year-old girl beat on three grown men. My being dressed the same as them at the time made her think it was some kind of gang thing."

"She went to the police?" Karen questioned.

Mariana nodded. "Apparently after the three tuned up dead in a nearby alley she came forward to give a statement along with a detailed description of my face."

"Dead?" Matt asked, alarmed. "But I made sure-"

"I know," Mariana cut him off. "They were shot in the head. HYDRA did it. They had to. Probably wanted someone to blame for me getting away. Or a way to draw me out."

"HYDRA? I think you need to start from the beginning."

Mariana sighed and straightened in her chair. "My name is Mariana Hadley and I used to work as a consultant for the organisation SHIELD before it fell. I'm more commonly known by my Avenger code-name, Quantum. The day SHIELD fell and HYDRA came out I was sent straight into a trap and was captured. They used energy blasts to supress my powers and prevent any attempts at escape. There were many of those by the way.

"They had me trapped and decided they were going to train me, make me some kind of weapon and force me to comply with their ideals so that they could use my abilities for their own gain. I developed some kind of immunity to the power suppression but my powers were all out of whack so I was on foot for a while. There was a forest and I was chased down.

"One of the energy blasts burned my shoulder and I sustained a few other injuries along the way. Eventually I was able to teleport away but three HYDRA agents were in physical contact with me and at the time I didn't have enough focus to teleport without them. Then we were fighting on the streets of Hell's Kitchen and they're threatening my family, the other Avengers, and a masked hero is saving my ass."

There was a stunned silence in the room. Surprisingly, Karen broke it.

"Did they hurt you? While they had you as a prisoner?"

Mariana nodded after a moment of hesitation. "They, uh, experimented, took DNA and blood samples and, ah, well they…it doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," Matt said because he knew just by the implication of her speech and her sped up heartbeat exactly what they had done and it made his blood boil.

"Maybe," he felt her shrug. "But I'm okay for now."

"People think you're dead," Foggy blurted. "I mean, Captain America said missing in action but people assumed he meant dead."

Karen nudged him with her elbow. "Why haven't you gone home?"

"I didn't want them to get hurt. HYDRA threatened them and I'm not sure if they were telling the truth or not. I won't put them in danger like that." There was some more silence. "Do you…do you know how they are? The Avengers. I heard they got a new member."

Matt nodded. "Falcon. He has mechanical wings, helped with all of the HYDRA stuff in DC."

"They also found Bucky!" Foggy suddenly exclaimed and Mariana raised an eyebrow. Foggy blushed. "He, uh, he survived the fall from the train in the 40s. Apparently HYDRA brainwashed him, gave him a metal arm and trained him to be an assassin. He escaped in DC and they were out looking for him. He's remembering things now apparently. News went nuts about it."

"Why the hell does everything come back to HYDRA?" Karen asked angrily.

"Mariana," Matt began hesitantly, "I think you should reconsider your position on returning home. You need your family right now. Your family needs you. You've been gone for almost eleven months now and it's become the tabloid's newest fascination that the Avengers have refused to stop looking for you."

Mariana swallowed. "I can't put them in danger."

Foggy leaned forward and gaped at her. "Are you kidding? You're the freaking Avengers! There is nothing you lot can't take on. The others can sure as hell look out for themselves and you staying away leaving them with no idea if you are alive or dead is only going to hurt them more than any HYDRA agent ever could."

Mariana was amazed that the blonde so eagerly still thought of her as an Avenger. Karen was nodding emphatically and Matt was smiling indulgently at his friend's little rant.

"Mariana, if you're still insistent on not going home and since you already know who I am, you can stay with me for a while if you need it."

"I can't do that Matt."

"Yes you can," Karen said, "and you will."

Mariana smiled. "You remind me of Pepper. Fiery authoritative female figure keeping the boys in check? Yep, definitely Pepper."

Karen smiled.

"Dude, you just invited an Avenger to live with you," Foggy stage-whispered. "Why are you so cool about this?"

"Because I'm not a fanboy like somebody else is."

They all laughed a little. Matt, Foggy and Karen all felt an edge of protectiveness over this young woman, only nineteen years old and she had been through so much already. And if the three friends silently agreed they had adopted a little sister in such a short span of time then Foggy just assumed that meant he and the Avengers were technically family too which was just _so cool._

"Like I said though, I can't do that. Because I think you guys are right; I need to go home." She suddenly looked very nervous. "I can do this."

. . .

 **A/N: Back again! Left this until the end on purpose, want to ask you guys a question.**

 **How do you like the chapter length at the minute? I know longer chapters are sometime difficult to read but I find really short chapters break up the story too much. Opinions?**

 **As always if a mitake is really bugging you, let me know so I can fix it. I noticed one or two silly ones like forgotten letters in the last few chapters that I will eventually go back to fix.**

 **Thanks for reading! :)**


	8. Chapter 8: Home Never Changes

**Well Well Well, look who uploaded a new chapter. :D Chapter Nine is even finished but I won't throw it up until after Ten is done and Ten is quite possibly going be a pain to write if I can't get time to do it properly but I'm trying.**

 **By the way, your reviews make me smile so much so thank you!**

 **Anyway, SPOILERS! (Of course) Can we just assume at this pint that there will be spoilers? And did I put a disclaimer in at the beginning? Whelp. Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot and my OC. There. Done.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **. . .**

Mariana missed her home. She missed her family and she missed them like hell. It physically pained her at that point to be so close to them yet at the same time so far. She had now met Matt, Foggy and Karen but it had been 11 months since she had last seen her super-hero siblings. Hell, they'd even missed her nineteenth since she'd celebrated that particular birthday with Markus.

She missed their continuous banter, missed training with Natasha – yet Matt had promised to teach her plenty about using her senses and adapting her fighting style if she could ever make the time - missed tai chi with Bruce, Tony's rants, Steve's cooking, Thor's stories, Clint's hugs and pamper days with the girls.

She didn't want to take the risk of putting them in danger. She wanted to protect them no matter what and had for at least a little while thought the best way to do so was to stay away. She realised now she was wrong. Foggy had happily pointed out that the Avengers could look out for themselves, though it was a nice gesture.

It was time to go home.

. . .

The tension in the tower could have been cut with a butter knife at that moment.

Bucky had been doing everything he could and making every suggestion he could to help the other Avengers in their search for their missing sister, as was Sam. Yet still they watched as the team made no progress.

Thor wandered through the tower like a lost puppy most days and Steve was almost always feeling down and Bucky did not like it at all. _You'd like her Buck,_ he had said one day. _She was the key to making this whole thing work. Without her, there would be no Avengers, just a bunch of people in costumes working alone at the same time. She made us a team._

Tony spent most of his time in his lab and his fervent rants about his genius inventions were much less frequent and energetic. Natasha was wound tighter than usual, getting increasingly snappy with practically everyone. Bruce was struggling to contain the Hulk. He refused to go out in the field stating that if he let The Other Guy loose now he wouldn't be able to contain it.

Pepper was rarely around the Avengers anymore. She went on the odd shopping trip with Natasha and spent time with Tony, but being around the others reminded her of the most important piece that they were missing. Clint was arguably the worst off of the lot. He was becoming increasingly reckless and spent almost all of his time in his nest, the vents or at the range when no one else was there.

Sam tried to get all of them to talk on several occasions. Eventually Steve had just silently shaken his head and looked at the floor.

Sam had backed off.

Bucky had not.

He loved hearing Steve speak so passionately about his memories of Mariana and the weird stunts she had pulled, or stories she had told. But he had quite frankly had enough of the wallowing, of the division in the team.

All it took was one moment. He and Steve had been watching re-runs of some mind-numbing hospital show in the communal living room when Steve had snorted and quoted one of the lines as it was said.

At his friend's raised eyebrow the Captain had shrugged. "Mariana used to love this show."

 _'_ _Used to'._

Fucking _'used to'._

"Stay here," the ex-assassin demanded before storming over to the elevator. "JARVIS?" he called out once inside.

"Yes Master Barnes?"

"Tell Thor, Widow, Wings and Banner to meet Steve in the communal living room. Pepper too, if she is available. Also, grant me access to Tony's lab. Override code Blackthorne."

"You are not authorised for this override code Master Barnes."

Bucky sighed. "Has Stark eaten in the last 24 hours? Drank any water? Got any sleep? What I'm about to do is for everyone's own good. In fact, please ask Wings to make Stark a sandwich or something."

There was a pause before; "Override accepted." Bucky smirked.

The elevator doors opened and the ex-assassin walked out and straight through the unlocked door of Tony's lab. The genius' head sprang up at the intrusion and he frowned.

"The hell did you get in here?"

Bucky shrugged. "Shut down whatever you're pretending to work on and get your ass upstairs. Team meeting."

"Get out."

"Get up."

"Out!"

"JARVIS shut it all down."

Stark almost growled when all his screens went black and he knew there was no use arguing but he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. Instead, Bucky took a fistful of Tony's shirt and hauled him up, pushing him into the waiting elevator as he followed behind.

"Drop me at the range and take Mr Stark here up to the others if you would JARVIS."

"Certainly, Master Barnes."

Tony muttered something about turning his own AI against him.

Bucky found Clint exactly where he thought he would, emptying a quiver into a series of targets at the range.

"Barton," he said softly, knowing any confrontational tone the archer would jump at, he was at that stage of looking for a fight anywhere he could find one.

"Barnes," was the clipped reply.

"Team meeting. Living room." Simple. Short.

"No." Decisive. Hard.

Bucky sighed.

"Don't make me drag you."

"I'd like to see you try."

Five minutes later the elevator doors dinged open on the communal floor. Everyone was there - including Pepper who looked exceptionally pleased to see Stark chowing down on a BLT – and everyone turned to the elevator at their arrival. Bucky shoved the archer forward slightly while said blonde mumbled about grouchy assassins and temper tantrums. He was sporting a new black eye.

Natasha rolled her eyes and retrieved some ice for her partner. "Was that necessary?"

Bucky shrugged. "He wouldn't listen and then he took a swing at me."

"Okay well, we are all here so what is this team meeting about exactly?" Bruce's question had everyone turning to face Steve who merely shrugged and pointed at Bucky who in turn flopped over the back of the couch into his previous seat beside Steve.

"Movie night."

There was silence for a few moments as he flicked through the movie selections slowly.

"I'm outta here," Clint rose angrily and started for the elevator.

"Lock the floor down JARVIS."

"Yes Master Barnes."

There was a sound that could only be described as a growl from behind him.

"What the fuck Barnes?"

"Sit down Hawkeye."

"Not until you tell us what the fuck you are playing at!"

Bucky calmly rose to his feet and turned to face everyone at once. "What is going on is that we are all going to sit down and watch a god damn movie like you lot haven't done in two months. We are going to sit, like a team – a _family_ – and we are going to continue the tradition you have all just seemed to give up on."

"That was Lady Mariana's tradition."

"No," Bucky told the Norse God. "Stop talking like that, all of you. You've been fighting for months, searching for her absolutely everywhere yet in the past few weeks not one of you has mentioned her in present tense. You don't want to admit it but you've given up on her and it's tearing you all apart."

"Bucky is right," Sam spoke up from his place leaning against the wall. "This will be good for you all, you need this. You need to feel close to her and this is her thing."

It took a few minutes but eventually everyone settled and at Pepper's suggestion they had put on Mariana's favourite movie. It was a kid's movie but it gave all of them a good chuckle. Bucky sent a small smile to Sam as they both felt the tension slowly dissipate from the room.

Then Clint's cell phone rang.

JARVIS paused the movie.

"Unknown number," Clint muttered. "Hello?"

There was a harsh in-take of breath on the other line but no words spoken. Steve and Bucky were able to pick up on it only because of the serum enhancements.

"Who is this?"

There was a choking sound, as if someone was biting back a sob and stranger or not, Clint felt a little awkward. Then there was another voice, male, but not speaking directly into the cell, in the background.

"You can do this,"

Then a woman's voice. "Foggy, give her a moment. She's okay."

"Is anyone going to answer me?" Impatience was creeping into Clint's voice now. "I'm hanging up."

But before he could there was a choked "Clint," and he froze for just a moment. Steve stiffened up. The Avengers watched the archer's expression shift from frustrated to shocked to hopeful in a flash and wondered what the hell was said on the other line. Until he spoke.

"Mari?" Then all of their faces displayed the same emotions just as quickly. But that appeared to be all Clint could get out as he just sat there, shocked, until Tony and Natasha dived for the cell at the same time. Tony got there first.

"Kid? Kid is that really you?"

"Tony," Mariana breathed and there was no mistaking that it was their little sister.

"Thank God. Where are you? I'll come get you just tell me where you are."

"No, I…" She sighed. "Listen, I'll come to you I just need a minute to get myself together here. I wanted to call and give a heads up so I didn't give Steve a heart attack or invoke the Hulk from shock or something."

"Well I think you broke the Hawk anyway so good plan."

Mariana gave a short laugh. "I'll be there soon, just, keep everyone calm, please? There is a lot of explaining to be done. Five minutes, communal living room." She hung up.

Tony put the cell down and suddenly all of the Avengers were standing in his face.

"What did she say?" Natasha.

"Is she hurt?" Bruce.

"Mariana will be returning?" Thor.

"Stark, talk to us here." Steve.

"Where is she Stark?" Clint.

"Everybody be quiet!" Pepper exclaimed and they all instinctively backed up a little bit. "Now explain Tony."

They all stared at Tony as he opened his mouth to tell them all everything that had been said throughout the duration of the call but he didn't utter a word. Bucky was on his feet and instinctively holding a defensive stance while Sam was also rising from his seat. They went unnoticed by everyone but Tony as the others were facing the other direction. The two were facing off against Mariana who stood awkwardly in the centre of the room.

"Dammit Tony, I said keep them calm!"

Mariana stood there, wearing clothes they didn't recognise as her ever having owned but not exactly looking brand new. She was wearing blue boyfriend jeans, a plain black T-shirt and a red plaid shirt, unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up over the top. She was wringing her hands nervously and shifting from foot to foot uncertainly.

Her left eye was marred with a nasty bruise and her face covered with several small scratches as well as a busted lip and a cut above the eye, held closed with a butterfly clip. There was a bandage wrapped on her left forearm and she seemed to be hunched in on herself, as though protecting herself. Sam assumed her ribs were injured.

Bucky's entire stance relaxed when Steve was the first to surge forward, being the closest, and enveloping the young girl in a fierce hug, lifting her feet of the ground. In return she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life. The lack of painful reaction suggested the soldier had noticed her stance and was mindful of her injuries also. Then the others were on her too and it was like a game of pass the teleporter.

And so followed the first wave of questions:

"Where the hell have you been?"

"We have been so damn worried!"

"Don't you ever do that to us again!"

"Oh God, I'm so glad you are safe Kid."

"Mighty Quantum you have returned!"

"You are never leaving my sight again."

"You are so grounded. You are never leaving this tower."

And the second:

"You're hurt!"

"I want names."

"Who tended to your injuries?"

"Were you injured in battle Lady Mariana?"

"Oh God, we didn't hurt you did we?"

"Sweetie sit down."

"Geez, hope the other guy looks worse Kid."

Bucky and Sam watched on from the side-lines, after a moment Sam leaned in. "So, uh, ten bucks says that's Mariana."

Bucky snorted and walked toward the group. "Sorry to interrupt but are you planning on introducing us to the lady or making us play a game of guess who?"

Steve laughed. "Sorry. Bucky this is Mariana Hadley, also known as Quantum. Mari, this is Bucky Barnes."

"Nice to meet you Bucky."

"Ah, you're the little miss whose been missing all year."

She waved sheepishly. "Yup. That would indeed be me."

"I'm Sam by the way. Sam Wilson."

Mariana smiled. "You must be the Falcon I keep hearing about. I may be a bit late but thanks for DC."

"Happy to help the good Captain."

"Not the rest of us?"

"The rest of you didn't bug the hell out of me during my morning runs for two weeks."

Mariana gasped. "Cap!"

He raised his hands in surrender.

"What happened Mari? Where did you go?" Everyone sobered up at Bruce's tentative question, afraid of the answer.

"Let's sit down, shall we? It's a long story."

. . .

Mariana explained how she got caught, how long she was with HYDRA, what happened when she was a child, the training, the suppression of her powers, her escape, the threat and her saviour, Daredevil. Of course, she left out that she knew his identity. She also skirted around the topic of Markus and his 'punishments'.

Pepper had started crying and even Bucky and Sam who didn't really know Mariana felt their blood boil because she was barely an adult when they had taken her and they had experimented on her as a child and – _Jesus Christ_ HYDRA are despicable.

Mariana also asked about Fury after a while and had been more than relieved to discover he was still alive.

"I'm just glad to be home," she sighed. "And while I would love to get to know you two," she indicated Sam and Bucky "I would much rather get some much needed rest."

"That I can get behind," Tony yawned.

Everyone smiled indulgently at the genius.

"Oh, one more thing!" Mariana directed her attention to Pepper. "I want to hold a press conference at some point in the next week, preferably soon."

"What? Why?"

"I want it cleared up that I'm no longer MIA and that I'm indeed not dead. I want the public to know what happened, not the details, but enough."

Clint blinked. "You want to call out HYDRA?"

Mariana grinned. "They held me prisoner, cut off my powers, tried to turn me into a weapon and threatened my family. I'm not afraid of them and I want to make sure they know that. I wasn't sure about coming home," she admitted. "I thought you guys would be safer if I stayed away. But I came home and we all know I don't do things by halves. I'm home and I want everyone to know that. Especially HYDRA."

"You were right Punk," Bucky said to break the silence, "I do like her."

"Me too." Sam grinned.

Mariana merely grinned and relaxed a little into Clint's side.

. . .

The whole time with HYDRA Mariana slept without nightmares. It was her theory that the reason she didn't have nightmares anymore was because at the time, she had been living the nightmare. Or maybe her mind was over-taxed each day by her constant planning of escapes and thoughts of Markus and worrying and maybe she just hadn't dreamt at all.

But that first night back at the tower, after she had untangled herself from her family members and retreated to her own floor – with much protest from the protective Avengers – she woke up with a scream lodged in her throat.

It took a few moments to recognise that she was home, safe and _no, JARVIS. The others do not need to be informed, it was just a nightmare._ But then she was throwing the covers off of herself and dropping the knife she had pulled from under her pillow onto the side-table. She groaned as she tugged her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Get a grip, Mari," she whispered harshly to the empty room. "You're home. You're safe."

But no matter how many times she said it, her heart was still beating frantically and the images were still in her head and her throat was bone-dry and she desperately needed a drink.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes Mariana?"

"Are any of the others awake?"

"Everyone remains on the communal level Miss. Would you like me to inform them of your awakened state?"

"No thanks buddy." She glanced at the digital clock beside her knife. 3:07am _I've been asleep for four hours. What is everyone still doing up?_ Slowly, she crept out of bed, mindful of her injuries, and slowly moved toward the elevator.

When it dinged open on the communal floor she was greeted with an empty living room but could see there was a light on in the kitchen just off to the side. Creeping over slowly she could hear the others speaking softly to each other. Taking a deep breath she straightened her shoulders and pushed the door open.

Everyone was gathered around the kitchen island talking. Pepper's head was leaning on Tony's shoulder, Bruce looked half asleep and everyone else looked quite sombre. Everyone's gaze turned to her and Bruce looked a little more awake now.

"Mari?" Clint asked with a hopeful tone.

She shrugged, going for nonchalance. "Couldn't sleep anymore. No hot chocolate left on my floor." With that she turned and flicked the switch to start boiling the kettle and reached up into the cupboard for the purple jar.

"Nightmares?" Natasha asked.

Mariana shrugged noncommittally.

Pepper cleared her throat awkwardly. "So, uh, I'll make some calls in the morning about that press conference. I'm thinking we can set it up for Tuesday."

Mariana nodded. "Thank you, Pep."

There was silence in the room after that other than the rumblings of the kettle as it finished boiling and then the clinking of Mariana stirring her drink. When she turned back around with the mug in her hands she found everyone staring. She sighed.

"I know, alright?"

"Know what?" Steve asked innocently, as though he wasn't thinking the exact same as everyone else.

Mariana rolled her eyes. "You're a crappy actor Steve." The soldier shrugged guiltily. "I know this is weird. For all of us. You all thought I was dead and then-" she held up a hand when several of them tried to protest, "and then here I am. Sipping hot chocolate like nothing at all happened. But things did happen and I'm not ignoring that I just-"

She stopped and stared down into the depths of her mug, unable to articulate everything she needed to right now.

"Don't know how to deal with it all? Don't want to?" Sam suggested. Mariana nodded and he stood up to approach her. "Man have I been there. You just kind of want to move on but you don't think you can, not after everything."

Mariana stared at him as though he had just read her mind and he smiled softly.

"So, like, I run this VA thing on Thursdays so I'm used to listening to people talk about things they've been through – difficult things – with a non-judgemental ear. I've been told I'm quite good at it too. Point is; You ever need someone to talk to? Even just vent to? You can always come to me. And I know we don't exactly know each other well yet but, maybe that could help."

Mariana stared at him for a long time and said nothing. Then she placed her mug on the counter and for a split second Sam worried she might hit him. But she hugged him instead.

She hugged him and whispered a quiet 'thanks' into his shirt.

And suddenly everyone knew that everything was a little more okay than it had been before.


	9. Chapter 9: Press Conference of Death

**So...uh...a thing happened.**

 **See, I've been stressing lately about exams and life and everything else in between. Well, my wonderful mother decided to surprise me with a long weekend away in the country with no internet and didn't let me bring any revision, only the homework due when I got back to school.**

 **Point is...I may have written chapters 10, 11 and 12 while I was away.**

 **And this story may have taken quite a different turn than I was first aiming for.**

 **And I might just love it. I'm kind of concerned that some of you may not like the turns this story takes in the next few chapters though but I will persevere because I'm not about to apologise for how I decide my storyline should develop.**

 **Also, updates will still probably be pretty spaced out (aka about 2 weeks apart) because I won't get any time to write again until the end of June (noooooo!) since I do need to actually revise. At least a little.**

 **Anyway, your reviews still mean the world to me and I am so glad this has reached so many people! I hope you continue to enjoy this ourney with me**

 **End rant.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **. . .**

Mariana wasn't quite sure anymore why she had ever thought this press conference was a good idea. The lobby of Avengers Tower was about to be flooded with reporters and cameras and other people and this was _not_ a good idea.

The Avengers had made sure she knew she could back out at any moment if she really wanted to, if she changed her mind. She had thought about it too. She had really considered it. But then she remembered the small, proud smile on Clint's face when she had told them all why she _was_ going to do this.

So she was going to go through with it. She was going to tell the entire world that she was back, she was alive and she was here to stay this time. She was going to reveal her real identity in front of millions on live TV and it would likely be talked about for days – if not weeks – to come. She was going to call out a super evil organisation and paint an even larger target on her own and her family's backs. She was going to do this.

That didn't mean she wasn't nervous.

. . .

Maria Hill, as the acting Avengers' liaison – at least in the eyes of the public - introduced the team at the beginning of the conference. The full team was stood in a straight line behind her, dressed in their full gear except for Tony who stood in a pair of jeans, a simple t-shirt and a blazer, and Bruce who wore his usual shirt and dress pants. The masks were off except for Mariana's and at that point she felt like it was choking her.

She wasn't used to it anymore. With HYDRA she would have killed for the flimsy piece of fabric; for a completely impractical barrier between her and, well, all of them. But at that moment she felt restricted. She felt fake. This wasn't who she was anymore, too much had changed and she couldn't go back to who she had been before. The mask was just a reminder of that. She wanted it _off._

Steve stepped forward to the podium from his place in the centre of the line-up as Maria walked off to the side of the raised platform. Mariana's hands were shaking. He gave what she supposed would have been an inspiring speech had she actually heard any of it over the blood rushing in her ears. Then she was up.

"Now for the reason we are all here," Steve began. "Several months ago we came forward and announced one of our most valued team members, Quantum, was missing in action. We never stopped searching for her. But as I'm sure you can see-" he gestured towards the end of the line where she stood and paused. She nodded in response and he gave an encouraging smile as he turned back to the sea of reporters. "-she found her way home."

There was a barrage of questions as the reporters shouted over each other, thrusting their microphones toward the platform like swords ready for battle. The camera flashes were almost blinding.

Mariana struggled not to flinch away.

Then Steve was gesturing her towards the podium and she was walking on shaking legs as if to the gallows. Why had she suggested this?

As she reached the podium Steve placed his hand over the microphone and leant close to whisper to her. "You know you don't have to do this, right?"

Mariana glanced from her brother to the crowd. She was weighing the pros and cons of backing out now, of walking away and pretending none of this had ever happened. She could simply give a quick acknowledgement of her own return and _leave_.

But then she caught sight of a blonde man bouncing on the balls of his feet behind all of the reporters as he grinned widely up at the Avengers in awe while a strawberry blonde woman beside him tried to calm him down with a soft hand on his arm that went unnoticed. She too was sporting a grin of her own. Then there was the man with the cane and the sunglasses.

 _They're here._ She thought to herself and almost broke out into a grin right then. Matt - obviously having heard what Steve said – smiled softly and mouthed, as if he could read her unconscious thought, _"But you will, won't you?"_

And then she did smile. She smiled, glanced back at her team – her _family_ – then back at Steve with the smile still in place.

"I know." He smiled and returned to the line of Avengers with one last pat on the shoulder. Mariana turned back to the reporters, who were still shouting questions, and smiled politely while raising a hand slowly. "If you want answers I can give them. But only if you all shut up for a second."

Surprisingly, they did. The microphones retreated and the reporters composed themselves.

"Thank you. Now, I'd like to address the fact that the public appears to have pronounced me six feet under without evidence. Now granted the lack of evidence could be considered evidence in itself, but really people. They said _missing_ in action, not killed. So yes, I'm alive. Hurray!"

"How do we know you're the real Quantum?" One reporter was brave enough to shout. She heard someone take a heavy step forward behind her and held up her hand to keep Thor in place. Then she took a breath, teleported right into the poor guy's face and took his microphone.

She hadn't realised how much she had missed it. The rush of energy, the butterflies. She wanted to do it again.

Back on stage, microphone nowhere in sight, she leant forward against the podium with her arms crossed and sighed. "You'll get it back when we are done here. Clear?" He nodded, wide-eyed. "Good. Any other stupid questions? No? Good." With that she grabbed the microphone at the podium from its stand and started pacing the platform slowly.

"So, yes, missing. Well, kidnapped really. I guess I need to start from the beginning." Suddenly she was sitting at the edge of the platform, eye-level with the reporters. "I developed my abilities when I was a little girl; I was eight. Guys any of you want to join me?" She gestured from the line-up of Avengers to the edge where she was sitting. Without question both Clint and Tony sat on either side of her, legs dangling over the side.

Sam and Thor followed almost immediately, then Natasha who pulled Bruce down beside her too.

"C'mon Cap. Let loose." Steve smiled slightly but looked like he wasn't going to budge until Bucky smirked and dragged him over with little protest or difficulty. "Alright." Then Mariana frowned slightly at their audience. "Taking inspiration from Tony here but do you guys want to sit too? We might be here a little while."

Tony chuckled from her right as everyone slowly and hesitantly slid to the floor. Matt, Foggy and Karen were the last ones standing at the back and she knew Tony was going call them out but then Matt and Karen were promptly pulled to the floor by the blonde five-year-old between them. She waited until attention was back on her before speaking again.

"So, as I was saying, eight-year-old me was quite a handful for my parents. But they weren't good people and they died not long after. I went into the foster care system having to hide what I could do from everyone and, as most children there consider doing, I ran away. But with my powers there was no way I was ever going back. So I was sixteen when I managed to reveal my well-kept secret to a pirate. Well, a spy. But he was dressed in black leather and had an eye-patch.

"He tried to recruit me for three months before I caved and became a consultant for SHIELD. They gave me a place to stay and paid me to get their agents out of dangerous situations safely. I was good at my job, damn good at it. So then I met this cool guy with a bow," she nudged Clint, "and he kind of became my big brother at SHIELD. I learned how to defend myself. I was good at what I did."

She took a breath. "Then I was seventeen and aliens had attacked New York. I was never supposed to be an Avenger. The pirate made sure my name was nowhere near that initiative and I knew nothing about it until my big brother was in trouble and I decided it was time to help. I still didn't want to be an Avenger though. A part of me still thought I didn't deserve it. I wasn't a hero. I didn't really do anything.

"But I found a place here with this dysfunctional group of people – even if there is way too much testosterone in one tower." Mariana let every one of the men on the team react in their various ways: indignation, humour, eye-rolling. She let the reporters laugh a little too. Because it was time to get serious. What came next was the important part. She took a moment to compose herself when all was quiet once more.

Clint's hand on her shoulder and Tony's arm pressed up against hers grounded her. Kept her focus.

"I guess I let my guard slip," she said. "I was 18 on the day that the hellicarriers fell from the sky and SHIELD was made redundant. I was sent on an extraction for five agents in Bolivia. I didn't know that anything was up at that point. The shit hadn't hit the fan yet. But the agents weren't SHIELD. They were HYDRA, and this was their moment to shine. I walked into a trap and spent the last eleven months getting myself out of it."

She jumped up from her seated position and began pacing again for a few moments until she stopped, glanced at Bucky's rigid posture and his bowed head, Steve's hand on his flesh arm. Then she locked her jaw and stared resolutely out at the assembled reporters and her three friends at the back.

"Screw this," she said and even though the microphone was held at her side, the room was so quiet it was picked up anyway.

She angrily tore the mask from her head and scrunched it up in her fist at her side before bringing up the microphone once more.

"HYDRA made a mistake. First 11 years ago, then again 11 months ago. They picked the wrong person to mess with because I am not one to let things go. They threatened my family and I am not going to let that slide. I'm not afraid of HYDRA and I think I speak for this entire team when I say that we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice. They are not going to be allowed to ruin any more lives."

There was a tense silence for a few minutes and she caught a glimpse of Foggy's grinning face before Matt smacked him lightly with his cane. Then everyone was on their feet. The Avengers were all back on the platform, no longer in a line, but crowded near their youngest sister. The reporters were shouting and waving microphones and cameras were flashing again.

"Okay," Mariana drawled. "Hill, we got time for questions?"

"A few," the agent responded with a nod.

"Okay then, raise your hands children or I'm ignoring you all." None of them even questioned her or bristled at the comment, they just went silent and raised their hands. Mariana glanced at the team and mouthed 'I can't believe that worked.' "Uh, you with the cute sweater vest."

The young man, a few years older than her, smiled indulgently and cleared his throat. "Can we get a name to go with that face?" Mariana raised an eyebrow. "Please?" he added with a grin. Hers was identical.

"Mariana Rose Hadley. I'm nineteen years old and a Leo. Pink sundress."

"You mentioned that your parents weren't good people, how so?"

"Now wait just a se-"

"They worked for HYDRA," Mariana cut Steve and his good intentions off with a clipped reply and a small smile in his direction. "Superman shirt."

"Can we expect to see you re-joining the rest of the Avengers in the field any time soon?"

"If the good Captain approves it there is no where I would rather be. Three-piece suit."

"Do you get along with your new teammates The Falcon and The Winter Soldier?"

"I only got back yesterday but already I'm sure we will get along great. Family of family is still family." She glanced back at the two in question before moving on. "Fedora."

"On the subject of The Winter Soldier, given your experience, how do you feel to be working with HYDRA's deadliest asset?"

The whole room kind of stopped then. Even a few reporters turned to face the guy with incredulous looks and Mariana could feel the tension building up behind her. Bucky was pulling away from everyone, trying to shrink away unseen somehow while the others were ready to pounce. Mariana cleared her throat.

"Hold this." She passed the microphone off to Bruce who stood closest to her and looked a little too green. With that she disappeared from the platform and re-appeared a second later in front of the fedora wearing reporter only to grab his tie and disappear again, taking him with her. They didn't return.

"Uh…" Bruce stood holding the microphone awkwardly as everyone in the room looked around as though they would re-appear.

And re-appear they did. After three minutes.

In those three minutes however, a few things happened.

Mariana teleported herself and the reporter into an adjacent but empty rom. As soon as they were there Mariana released the man's tie and took a step back. She watched, with her hands still by her sides in a non-threatening gesture but with her jaw locked and her eyes ablaze with barely restrained fury, as he recovered from the disorientation associated with an experience of her abilities. Even at such a short distance people often felt nauseous afterwards. So she waited as he caught his breath and straightened up.

Then she took his microphone from his hand, flicked the switch at the bottom to turn it off and stop it recording, leant _real_ close, and spoke in a dangerous tone. "Now you listen here because I will say it once and you won't interrupt."

He gave a jerky nod, reeling back at her close proximity but she merely backed him up to the wall and spoke in the same low voice.

"Now I may not be as close to Barnes as the others, I may only have met him yesterday but I do know one thing: my experience was _nothing_ compared to the hell HYDRA put the man through. You think HYDRA didn't talk about their ' _Asset'_ while I was there? They did. Almost every day they were threatening to wipe me like they did him, to introduce more programming like they did _to him._

"No, I don't know exactly what it was that happened to him but I know that he went through hell. I know that because as you so eloquently put it, _given my experience_ I know that HYDRA don't give a fuck about anyone and are willing to inflict more pain that you could possibly imagine to get what they want. And for over seventy years they had Barnes. You think they treated him well?

"I don't. I think they put him through hell ten times over. So you should maybe show a little more maturity and at least a little bit more respect unless you want 'HYDRA's deadliest asset' to get even a little bit offended and you should most definitely think before you speak."

Mariana stepped back and approached the refreshments table set up for the press after the conference and lifted a jug of water. "Now because I'm nineteen, immature and struggling to cope emotionally with my recent ordeal I am going to childishly act out against you and dump this on your head. Okay?" He began to protest but then his fedora was gone and he was soaking wet. Then she grinned and teleported him back to his original place in the crowd.

Mariana flicked the switch at the bottom of the microphone again and spoke only one sentence: "No more questions." She ignored the screech of interference as she dropped the mic at the gaping reporter's feet.

The microphone she had commandeered at the beginning was returned in a flash and then Mariana was beside Bucky who had frozen in place the moment Mariana had disappeared with Mr Fedora-Man. She waved politely at the crowd, being sure to catch the attention of her three lawyer friends at the back - noticing Matt's small, proud smile - before she offered Bucky her hand and he took it numbly with his right before being dragged to the elevator by the nineteen-year-old.

He didn't know what she had said, but the thoroughly chastised expression on the offending reporter's face and his current state of _soaked_ told him all he needed to know: she had defended him. Mariana barely knew him but she had apparently been more than offended on his behalf.

He hadn't even given her a reason to, she just had.

 _"Family is family is family."_

Yeah, he wanted to be able to call this girl family. He wanted to be worthy of that.

She already thought he was.

. . .

Bucky was silent after the press conference. Well, more so than usual.

Everyone knew he was completely aware of what was going on around him, but he was also in his own world. He was trying to figure out exactly what Mariana had said to that reporter. He was trying to figure out what an appropriate thank-you would be. So nobody said anything when he opted for silence while the rest spoke loudly over pizza and music later that night.

No one said anything when he took a box of pizza over to the single arm chair and didn't move to interact with anyone as he ate his pizza in quiet thought and sipped his beer. They said nothing when he refused to spar with Steve in the evening.

Soon enough Mariana and Sam were getting along like wildfire, the former laughing as the latter and Clint threw down as many bird puns as they possibly could. Bucky just watched.

Sam had earned that.

He had earned a spot in Mariana's ever expanding family, even just a preliminary position. Sam had offered a listening ear to her like he had done with Bucky. He'd made an effort to get along with her, joking around with the others and Mariana herself until she felt completely comfortable. He had earned her acceptance.

Only when Mariana decided to retire to her room did Bucky move from his chair. It seemed to go unnoticed by most of the others – maybe not Natasha if the raised eyebrow was anything to go by – but Bucky noted how Mariana didn't just teleport to her room. Instead, she made her way to the elevator. It was part of the reason he was able to get her alone.

As soon as she had stood and announced her intention to go to bed at half eleven, Bucky had stood and silently joined her on her walk to the elevator. The Avengers said nothing. Neither did she; until the doors closed.

"Y'know, it was never my intention to make you uncomfortable."

Bucky started at her words and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She remained facing forwards as he did but he could see the tension in her muscles and the way she was rubbing her fingers together on her right hand in some kind of nervous gesture. He wondered what an adequate reply was.

"You don't," he finally settled on.

She chuckled humourlessly. "Certainly didn't seem that way."

Bucky almost flinched. He knew his mood was often hard to judge. The Avengers were used to it and had become accustomed to his mood swings by now. He could have all of the confidence of the Bucky from the 1940s one moment and the next he would revert to the quiet man he had been when Steve and Sam first found him.

He should have realised Mariana may interpret his silence as something it wasn't. He was kicking himself. _She thinks you don't like her._ But he did. He liked her fire, her courage, her attitude. Here he was trying to figure out how to earn a position in her family circle and all the while he had been inadvertently pushing her away before he even got close.

"Look," she continued, "I'm sorry if I over-stepped at the press conference but- "

"You didn't." Mariana blinked. Bucky was surprised at his own voice but was quick to clear his throat and continue. "I'm not mad at you, I was just…thinking. You caught me off guard. I never expected you to do anything to defend me because you don't know me. But…you did. And that surprised me. I wanted to thank you because I don't deserve it."

"Deserve what?"

"To be a part of your…family."

Mariana's mouth popped open and she stared with wide eyes. The elevator doors opened. He was about to tell her to stop staring when she shook herself and smiled at him softly.

"I'm going to hug you now, okay?" He wouldn't have had a chance to object anyway as a second after she said it her arms had somehow wound their way around his mid-section and were holding onto him tightly while her cheek rested against his chest due to the height difference.

He had a moment or two to recover from his shock at her actions, register that he was indeed not throwing her off of him in a violently instinctive reaction and worry about hurting her if he reciprocated the gesture before she pulled back. He didn't like the way she was frowning.

"You do know what a hug is, right?" He stared at her blankly and couldn't help feeling like he was being mocked. She just grinned. "Then hug me back dummy."

When she wrapped her arms around him that time he compromised by wrapping only his right arm around her shoulders, the metal left one still hung at his side. The next time she pulled back she was grinning and shrugged.

"We'll work on it." She then finally realised they had reached her floor and JARVIS was keeping the door open for her. She smiled sheepishly and gave a small wave before exiting and the doors closed.

Bucky smiled to himself.

 _We'll work on it._

Maybe he had just earned exactly what he had wanted to.


	10. Chapter 10: Re-evaluating Life

**Hey guys!**

 **I know I know, I always cringe when an OC does something stupid too but I want to present Mariana as humanly as possible and human beings do stupid things very often.**

 **Anyway, enjoy! And as always, reviews are appreciated, especially if you have questions or suggestions or spot a silly mistake.**

 **Okay, happy reading! :)**

. . .

Mariana knew she should have told them. She knew the other Avengers needed to know that the press conference had been a fluke, that her powers were on the frits still, that sometimes she'd be trying to teleport to the next room and end up on the roof. She continued to avoid conversations where any of them might ask her about the position of the HYDRA facility she had been kept in so they could take them out.

When that question did come up she had thus far been able to brush it off somehow because she would be lying if she said she hadn't tried. Goddammit had she _tried_. But they didn't need to know that she couldn't. Not because of bad memories but she just physically could not get back there.

If they knew, she wouldn't be able to stay on the team, she wouldn't be able to go into the field. They would think she was broken but she _wasn't._ So they didn't need to know.

. . .

Someone was pounding on her door.

For a moment she just froze and listened. _HYDRA wouldn't knock_ she had to remind herself. _Unless Markus just wants to psychologically torture you_ and wow wasn't her brain just an asshole. Now she was completely tense and the hot water beating down on her back did nothing to ease that.

Then a muffled voice rang out between knocks and over the rushing water.

"Mari!" Clint. Her shoulders relaxed. "Mari, come on, training." It did not last.

"J, let him know I'll meet them there please." With that she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself before heading into her bedroom for her clothes. She didn't hear the front door open or realise she wasn't alone until Clint was frozen in the doorway to her room.

"Hey, Mari you know I can always wa- "

Mariana spun around so quickly she was surprised she didn't fall over and stared at her brother with wide eyes. They both stood frozen for a few seconds as they stared at the other.

It had been a week since she had returned home and her injuries were healing well but she had managed to avoid being examined by Bruce or having any of the others see her when not fully dressed. She used to walk around the tower in her pajamas - usually shorts and a tank top – but since she had been back she had always been fully dressed when they saw her.

Now, with only the towel covering her and an outfit clutched to her chest she was hyper aware of Clint's eyes on her skin. On her scars. In particular, the one that ran from between her shoulder blades, over her right shoulder and down towards her armpit. Easy enough to cover with a shirt or jumper but not a towel. Then his eyes flicked down to the one on her thigh and she was thankful that he couldn't see anymore of her.

The second he actually looked in her eyes she squeaked and disappeared.

She had been thinking bathroom. She had ended up in Sam's temporary room until he had a full floor sorted like everyone else – except Bucky who shared with Steve. He wasn't there so she decided to just change quickly there, throwing on the underwear, sports bra, jogging pants, trainers and long sleeved under-armour shirt she had been clutching to her chest. She hadn't had socks with her but figured she could suffer a few blisters.

With that she made her way to the training floor, dropping her used towel in the communal bathroom on the floor. She got there just after Clint had arrived was speaking lowly to Natasha. Mariana cursed silently to herself just as Tony approached and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"So, we all know this is team training day and Thunder Bolt is back home at the minute but Captain Ice-pop here wants you to go through a full evaluation before he considers letting you come fight bad guys with us. Now in my opinion, it's where you belong, but I'd rather you not get hurt if you go out there and you're not ready so I'm on his side here. For once."

"Thanks Stark," Steve deadpanned from where he stood with Bucky, Sam and Bruce in the centre of the room. They were all wearing t-shirts and jogging pants except Bruce who never took part in team training. He usually insisted on staying in case anyone got hurt, even if he was adamant that he wasn't _that_ kind of doctor.

Mariana chuckled at the two of them before realising Tony's words. "Wait, full evaluation?" Clint caught her eyes in a stern glance and she knew she would not be arguing with anything they told her to do.

Steve shrugged. "We want to make sure you are physically and mentally ready to get back in the field. Bruce also wants to examine your abilities again at some point to make sure nothing damaging was done when…" He looked down but he needn't have said more. Mariana swallowed thickly at the prospect.

Bruce had done a full eval of her abilities right after the Chitari invasion. He had all of the data he or Stark could have wanted regarding what she could do. He was a scientist. He would notice any differences immediately and then they would _know_.

Instead she nodded. "What do we start with?"

"A general workout," Natasha said. "Then sparring like usual."

Mariana spent five minutes stretching, ten minutes on the treadmill, fifteen on the punching bags and another ten minutes running through the most basic of the six obstacle courses Tony had created for them. By the time Natasha called her over to the mats she was already breathing heavier and a light sheen of sweat covered her forehead.

"Catch your breath Mari, you'll be with me first." The red-head tilted her head and studied Mariana closely for a few seconds as the girl's breathing calmed. "It's a little warm in here, you want to change your shirt before we get started.

Mariana knew what Nat was doing and knew that no matter what she did it would likely be a confirmation of whatever the woman suspected – which was probably true anyway. But the gesture told Mari all she needed to know. Nat wouldn't force her to tell the others and likely wouldn't let Clint tell them either.

So Mariana's only response was to take up a defensive stance.

Nat nodded to herself, as she herself took a subtle defensive stance. Mari remembered that Natasha would not make the first move. With anyone else she always did but because she had seen Mariana as a student she always made the younger girl make the first move.

So Mariana made a quick evaluation and found that there was no attack Natasha wouldn't see coming. She settled on attempting to fake her out. It had never worked before but it had been a year since they last sparred.

So she lunged forward with no warning, making it obvious that she was going for the assassin's right side but at the last second made a change in direction that Natasha had been expecting. She blocked the left hook coming towards her face and only briefly was surprised by the right going towards her abdomen. Both offensive moves were blocked with ease but it was a tactic she didn't remember her little sister ever having used.

They continued for a few more minutes and Natasha wasn't sure if she should be proud of Mariana for how few and far between the assassin found a way to fault and correct her tactics. Mariana had gotten better at fighting. Natasha knew it should have been expected with HYDRA making an effort to force their own training on her. But she was angry that whenever she got Mari on the ground the girl's first instinct was to protect her throat.

They finished sparring only for Sam and Tony to go on and on about how great she was until Tony started poking fun that Mariana had lasted longer than Sam had sparring against the Black Widow. That started a quick-fire banter session that Clint broke in on with a small smirk.

Natasha had pulled Mariana off the mat and approached Steve and Bruce for a quiet conversation, likely about Mariana's level of skill. Likely about whether or not she was physically fit enough for the field. Mariana felt a little too warm then, breathing was getting a little too difficult.

"Mariana?" Bucky's quiet voice sounded from her left and broke through the haze. "Want to step outside?" Mariana may have agreed just a little too quickly but Bucky only nodded in understanding and called out to Steve. "I want to see how Mariana is with firearms. We're going to head over to the range."

Steve nodded and told them they were both done for the day anyway so Bucky started towards the double doors leading into the sound-proofed firing range and activated the locking mechanism once she had followed him inside.

"Thanks," she breathed once they were inside. The air was cooler and she didn't feel like everyone was studying her.

"Don't thank me yet. I do want to see how good you are with a gun in your hand." Bucky started towards the cabinet that held a large selection of weapons and ammunition. Because it was Tony the cabinet stretched the length of the entire wall with a series of different compartments. Mariana blinked at the new addition.

"But I do want to talk as well," Bucky continued, "and right now the others can't hear us." He picked up two regular hand guns, it looked like a 9mm, standard issue for most New York cops these days.

"Okay. What about?"

"Your powers."

"Wh– what about them?"

"The fact that you didn't use them. Nat didn't tell you not to and I've heard Steve tell enough stories about you to know you previously would have used them at every opportunity. Or I could refer to Thor's tales of your 'excellent battle strategies', all of which involved the use of your powers. You almost had Natasha on her toes in there and could have easily distracted her enough to use your powers to take her by surprise."

Mariana swallowed and realised just how dry her throat was as she watched Bucky check the gun, load it and make sure the safety was on.

"So why didn't you?"

"I was never allowed to," was what came out of her mouth. "With HYDRA, my abilities were always suppressed or I could only go a very short distance if I could use them at all. Every time I did use them though it…didn't end well for me." She looked away, avoiding any eye contact. "I guess I just need to get used to being able to use them freely again."

"You seemed fine at the press conference."

Mariana sighed. "That was different. The press conference was a public setting but this…this is training. I've spent a year being forced to train without my abilities or else. It's different."

Her eyes met the floor as she considered her own words. They were true. She hadn't been thinking about hiding how screwed her powers were when she was sparring, she had just grown so accustomed to fighting without them that she hadn't even considered using them. She only looked up from the floor when Bucky's boots came into view.

He hesitated only a second before hugging her with his right arm as he had done in the elevator a week previously. It was the first of their few hugs that he had initiated but she reciprocated immediately. When he pulled back he changed the subject quickly, not wanting to watch her spiral any further into thoughts of the past.

"So how much do you know about firing a handgun?" Mariana visibly winced. Her mind flashed back to the agents chasing her through the woods that now no longer breathed the same air she did. "Too much I take it?"

Mariana nodded. "SHIELD gave me very basic firearms training that Clint kind of built on for a while and…HYDRA let me train a little with guns." Bucky raised an eyebrow. They were usually quite fond of using guns. Mariana shrugged. "Until I tried to shoot one of them during training. The only time I've actually shot someone was when…"

Bucky didn't interrupt her or try to change the subject again, now realising that no matter how much she had talked to Sam recently, she hadn't said a word about what she had been through. She needed to say it, he could see that. And he knew that she knew if anyone wasn't going to judge it would be him.

"When I was trying to escape."

"When you did escape," he corrected.

"When I did escape," she repeated after a moment.

"So," Bucky held out the gun to her, "You know how to fire one then but how good is your aim?"

. . .

Mariana had to wonder why there even was an analogue clock in the tower, I mean, it's _Tony Stark_ 's tower, one would assume something as simplistic as an analogue clock would be considered sinful. Yet there it was ticking away in the otherwise silent room, as though mocking her.

Fifty-eight minutes left.

The psychologist Pepper had vetted and Tony had hired sat across from her. She had been told they used to work at SHIELD. She sat with a pad of yellow paper, pen poised over it, unmoving for the last two and a half minutes. Mariana had spent the first minute staring the woman down and every second since then glaring at the goddamn clock on the glass coffee table between them.

Fifty-seven minutes left.

Finally, Mariana dragged her eyes back to the psychologist, Dr Smyth and made to kick her feet up onto the coffee table but the thud of her boots against the glass made her wince and she quickly put her feet back on the ground. She flashed an impish grin to the woman across from her who merely raised an eyebrow.

"So…" Mariana finally drawled. "What exactly is supposed to happen here?"

Dr Smyth smiled indulgently. "Well, we are supposed to talk."

"Well no shit. About what though?"

"You, what you experienced with HYDRA, the baseball game last night; anything you want really. Just talk. No obligations." Mariana stared at her blankly and Smyth sighed. "What do you want Miss Hadley?"

"I want back in the field," she replied without pause. Smyth scribbled something on her pad.

"Why?"

That time she did pause. She knew she had to be honest. If she lied, Smyth would likely know and the others would definitely find out and be disappointed.

"I want…" What did she want? "I want to protect them. I mean, they can protect themselves and I know that but I need to be there. I need to see for myself that HYDRA isn't going to follow through on their threat."

"And?" Mariana stared in confusion. And what? That was it. That was what she wanted. "And what about yourself Miss Hadley? You're telling me there isn't a part of you that wants to be in the field for more selfish reasons."

"Yes. That's what I'm telling you."

"We both know that isn't true."

"Fine," Mariana snapped, throwing herself to her feet and pacing. "I want to prove myself, I have to."

"To whom?"

"Them! The Avengers, my family, the public, _HYDRA_ ; I have to prove it to them. To myself, I have to prove to myself that I'm still good enough to be on this team, that I still belong here. That I can still be the hero everybody has always told me I was because I never believed them; I acted like I did but I was never that hero they saw me as, not to me but I want to be that now. And I need to prove to myself and everybody else that I'm good enough. I want to earn it. I have to."

Her voice got quieter as she came down from her frustrated bout of shouting until the last three words were said in a whisper that Dr Smyth could only hear because she was listening for it. After a quick scribble on her pad that couldn't have been more than a few words, Dr Smyth put the pad face-down on the coffee table and leant forward.

"Okay. Now if you want to be cleared for field work I'm going to need you to be honest with me over the next fifty minutes. I'm going to need you to talk to me, and you may not be comfortable but this isn't a therapy session. This is a psychological evaluation and you can't pass it unless you answer my questions. They will make you uncomfortable but your answers do not leave this room. I swear."

It took a few minutes of silent debate of pros and cons but eventually Mariana re-took her seat and indicated for Smyth to begin with a simple nod.

. . .

Mariana was making her way to Bruce's lab for her last and most important evaluation: her abilities. Bruce had informed her that he had prepared a series of non-invasive examinations and tests similar to those when she had first arrived.

She was worried because if she was lucky enough to be deemed physically and psychologically fit for the field there was still very little chance she would pass this particular evaluation. She considered skipping it or putting it off, maybe outright refusing. But all of the scenarios that played out ended up with her stuck in the tower indefinitely.

She briefly entertained the thought that maybe it was best that she wasn't in the field for now. Her powers were unreliable and the team didn't yet know that. Maybe it was that thought process that made her actually turn up to the stupid evaluation.

But the second she stepped foot in the lab, alarms started blaring. Familiar alarms. She and Bruce raced to the conference room on the communal floor only to find everyone but Tony there but that was always how things had been. Tony always had some last minute prep to do, be it with his suit, setting up comms, getting his under armour suit on or a combination of the three. He always had JARVIS fill him in though.

"What do we have?" Bruce asked the second they entered the room.

"Robots are attacking Hell's Kitchen. There are dozens of them and the authorities are struggling to contain the attack, we've been called in to take over as soon as possible," Steve replied without looking away from the holographic screen in front of him displaying a series of images. He did however look up at Mariana eventually. "I want you to stay here."

She shook her head. "Like hell. I'm coming with you."

"You haven't been cleared."

"Steve, we both know Daredevil operates in Hell's Kitchen and you know he will be out there, daylight or not. He's territorial as all hell – no pun intended – but you are going to need me if you want his co-operation on this."

"Mari-"

"She'll follow us anyway Cap, you know that," Clint stated.

"Trust me, Steve."

He sighed. "Suit up."

At that moment the left wall of the conference room opened up to reveal cases containing Hawkeye, Black Widow and Quantum's suits, teach and/or weapons. The right wall held the same for Captain America, The Winter Soldier and The Falcon. Mariana blinked because last she remembered their suits had always been their own responsibility and on the day of the press conference she had found hers laid out in her room for her by Pepper.

She shrugged and grabbed her suit like the rest of them. Looking around at everyone doing the same she was hoping she wouldn't have to change in front of everyone because no. Just, no. Then Nat grabbed her elbow and placed her hand on a random spot on the wall beside the opening she had grabbed her stuff from. The inner compartment slid to the right to reveal a small changing room, just big enough to change comfortably. She noticed everyone else stepping into their own one.

She watched Bruce retreat from the room after Steve announced The Hulk would not be needed for this one before she quickly shuffled into the opening and let the panel close over.

She just hoped she didn't screw this up.


	11. Chapter 11: Hostile Environment

**Hey guys! Long chapter here!**

 **I know certain people may seem a little OOC here but that will be explained in the next chapter. Which may come in one week instead of two.**

 **I know I said I would revise. But I've had so much more inspiration to write instead so I'm almost done Chapter 16 and can now say this will likely be about 17/18 chapters long. Also, I've reviewed the guidelines about ratings and I think that I need to bump up the rating from T to M because these characters have such potty mouths sometimes and some of the violence is a little strong in places.**

 **So keep an eye out for Chapter 12 coming maybe next Wednesday/Thursday people.**

 **Now I'm going to go cry about all of the exams I'll likely fail. Worth it.**

. . .

She was getting what she wanted.

She was going back into the field after a year of being trapped. She was getting the chance to prove herself to her family, to HYDRA and to herself. Prove that she was good enough. Prove that she was strong enough. Prove that she belonged on the team. She was getting exactly what she wanted.

She was going to finally earn her place on the team, in the family. She was going to earn the trust that Bucky and Sam had already placed in her with no reason to. She was going to earn the praise she had received in the media both before she had been taken and since she had returned. She was getting exactly what she wanted.

So why did she feel like it was all a huge mistake?

. . .

Quantum emerged to find everyone suited up and Falcon holding out a pistol to her. It was pretty similar to the one she and Bucky had trained with previously. "I know you can get out of trouble pretty easily but all of us would feel a lot better if you had this on you out there."

She took it and the thigh holster Black Widow handed over and secured them both. With that the others all headed to the quinjet, assuming she would be teleporting there like she always had and leaving her to pray her powers actually worked for just a little bit. Iron Man and Falcon were going to be flying and Thor was still off-world with business in Asgard.

She called Matt straight away, and when he answered she heard a lot of rustling and movement.

"Can I expect some assistance over here or what?" was his immediate question.

"Avengers incoming, I might be able to pick you up for speed purposes but the first teleportation is rough for a normal person and I have no idea how it will affect you with your senses."

"I'll risk it. The sooner we get into this the fewer people will get hurt. You remember where my place is?" Quantum almost smiled in memory of the night she had spent at Matt's, psyching herself up to return home.

She focussed everything on that memory of his flat and opened her eyes to find Daredevil just slipping his sticks - _billy clubs_ he said they are called billy clubs – into their holster/pouch thing. He immediately frowned, tilting his head as he studied her with his senses.

"Something is wrong. What's going on with your abilities?" She remembered him mentioning being able to recognise her abilities by vibrations in the air.

"Kind of on the fritz," she replied as she approached him.

"You going to be okay in the field?" There was genuine concern in his voice but she brushed him off. She couldn't think about that.

"I hope so, otherwise the others will be so mad."

"Mariana," Matt placed a hand on her shoulder and his lips were set in a firm line. "I'm more worried about you than them right now."

"You've only known me like a week Matt."

"And yet you're a little sister to me in every regard."

She shook her head. "You ready?" He nodded.

She was surprised her abilities were working so well and naively she thought maybe they had fixed themselves somehow but the fact that Daredevil knew something was wrong indicated otherwise. She got them to an alley just a block away from the police perimeter set up and Matt immediately gasped, stumbling away from her.

"Shit, Daredevil!" Quantum reached out as though to steady him but he merely shook his head and straightened.

"Just a little weird, I'm good. Can you take us up to that roof?" He indicated where he meant and she gripped his arm, pushing away her questions at his quick recovery.

Once there he seemed to scan the area below with his senses while Quantum did the same with her eyes. They could see the majority of the attacking force and the attempts of the police to fight them off. There weren't many civilians around but the ones that were didn't seem to have an escape route free to them.

The robots were some kind of dog-like form, dark grey in colour and just a little under six foot in height. They were big but they were slow. She wasn't sure how strong they were but it didn't look like they were too interested in the police officers around them, their focus seemed to remain on civilians.

"You in touch with the others?" At Daredevil's gruff question Quantum realised her comms had yet to be turned on so she reached up under her mask to do so.

"Quantum online."

"Finally," Hawkeye breathed.

"I have Daredevil, we are at the site and it looks a little like someone switched the tranquilisers for steroids down at the pound. Robot steroids. Plan anyone?"

"Our priority is to get any civilians in the area out. Secondary objective is to draw the fighting away from the authorities, this is our fight." Mariana saw Daredevil's jaw tick at Captain America's orders and smiled to herself at his territorial nature. "ETA of three minutes, Iron Man and Falcon?"

"ETA is 60 seconds," Iron Man replied.

"About two minutes Cap," Falcon added, sounding frustrated that he was slightly behind Iron Man.

"Roger, we're going in."

"Quantum, wait for Iron Man!"

But she had already tossed a spare comm link to Daredevil, having adjusted the volume levels to as low as she could and was preparing to teleport them into the fray.

"Too late Captain," Daredevil announced with a smirk once the comm was secure and he was on the ground, charging at the closest dog-bot. Hound bot? Robo-dog? They could name them later.

Quantum went straight for the civilians, knowing she stood the best chance of getting them all out safely so long as her abilities played along. She took them only short distances but far enough from the fighting that they could get to safety themselves. She couldn't risk going too far and not getting back. She heard the familiar sounds of Iron Man fast approaching and saw his repulsors firing as she sprinted towards her third group of civilians.

She had to work fast and get them out of there before the real fight started. The Avengers may be effective but sometimes the damage caused by their battles was immense.

She heard Iron Man laughing over the comms. "There may be a lot of them but these are some cheap bots. Pro-tip: aim for the back of the head and it's lights out."

At that moment Quantum had just returned to see Daredevil slam one of his billy clubs into the back of one of the bots' heads. "Huh," he said. "Works like a charm."

"Did you doubt me, Horns?"

"Not for a moment Circuits."

"Guys, is the banter really a good idea right now?" Captain America questioned in exasperation and Quantum would swear that she had heard Hawkeye snort at that. Instead of engaging in the banter like she may have a year ago, Quantum took a deep breath and delved right back into the fight.

. . .

So far she hadn't had to go head-to-head with any of K-9's weirder cousins and was thankful that getting civilians out had been so easy thus far. Her luck stars were under praise for the fact that her powers seemed to be holding out just fine. It was weird to know that while she felt she had the full range of her powers at any moment they might not work.

It probably wasn't a good thing that she hadn't noticed the Falcon sweeping into the fight until he was freeing Daredevil from three bots that almost had him pinned. A terse 'thanks' was heard before one of the three bots received a billy club to the back of the head. At that moment a shadow swooped over them, two blurs dive-bombing out of the quinjet, one in a distinct red and blue and the other in black with a slight glint of silver.

By the time the quinjet had landed, Captain America and The Winter Soldier were picking their way through the bots and Hawkeye was asking Quantum for a trip. She dropped him off at his chosen vantage point before taking Black Widow to the ground.

After that they worked rather efficiently until Quantum had gotten all of the civilians she could see out of the vicinity.

"Civilians clear," she reported, somewhat out of breath after she had dropped off the last of the civilians just a couple of blocks from the fighting.

"Alright, give The Falcon a hand herding these guys south on his side. We have to get them away from the police and finish this," Captain America ordered.

"There are so goddamn many! Where are they coming from?"

Quantum was going to reply that from what she'd seen there were more of them to the east where The Winter Soldier and Black Widow appeared to be working their way through the stream of bots easily. Everyone else on the team, had stuck relatively close to a single area each. The Falcon - while flight over the entire 'battlefield' would have been relatively easy – was restricted to the north-eastern quadrant as while there were few police officers still there, Captain America had deemed it necessary to protect.

Speaking of Captain America, he was to the west with Hawkeye providing cover fire from his perch. Hawkeye who had chosen the best available vantage point but with the layout of this part of the city his view was still restricted. Iron man had been whizzing about at first but had settled near Daredevil to the southern edge of the field, providing aerial support and witty remarks as the Man fought valiantly below him.

Meanwhile, Quantum had been all over the show in her bid to rescue civilians and had noticed the discrepancies in the flow of the bots in each area.

She had been planning to relay all of this in much shorter order into the comms before she had caught a glimpse of a dark uniform that did not belong to any of the Avengers. The person had their back to her, casually strolling in the direction of the fighting but she could clearly see the bulk of a uniform and weapons as well as the ends of a mask that must have covered their face.

"We got a new player on the field here guys. Two blocks south."

"Friendly?" Black Widow questioned.

"Not sure," Quantum muttered before calling out to the guy. "Hey!" He didn't stop. She groaned. "Falcon, I'll be with you in a second. Going to check this guy out." Without waiting for his reply she teleported to intercept the un-identified male – she had determined this from how he moved and the bulk of his shoulders.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him stopping in his tracks, though not like he was surprised to see her. She barely heard Iron Man quip in a joking tone, "If he's got an X on his chest and a bad hair-do shoot Wolverine on sight." Hawkeye snorted in response but it was all lost on Quantum as she stared in disbelief.

The guy had an X on his chest alright, but he wasn't one of the X-men.

Quantum barely heard Captain America reprimanding Iron Man or Bucky grinding out a request for an update of the possible hostile or Falcon finally caving and gasping out his need for her immediate assistance, _repeat, immediate assistance - Falcon is down._

She heard it but it didn't register as she continued to stare at the man in front of her. She'd had the misfortune of meeting Crossbones only twice while she was held prisoner with HYDRA but before that she had known of SHIELD agent, Brock Rumlow.

Mariana barely managed to choke out a strangled "Hostile," before he punched her in the gut and wrenched off her mask, taking her comm with it. She had a sick feeling he was grinning behind his mask and as she struggled to remove his hand from her hair, she saw the father and daughter she had just saved bolting around the corner.

She was relieved that they got away but had to focus on doing the same herself.

Crossbones' grip on her hair was painful and as he used his hold to jerk her head backwards she let her left knee bend to drop with the movement to reduce the strain that kind of twist would have put on her back.

"HYDRA," she growled through gritted teeth. "Didn't know you Nazi's had the brains to build so many robots. Though, to be honest, we should have known considering the crappy quality."

With a grunt, he dragged her head down as he raised his right knee to smash her face into it. Somehow, she managed to get her hands up in time to shove his knee off target, twisting him to the right with the force and causing his knee to catch her previously sore shoulder instead. But she pushed through that and slammed her right foot down on the inside of his left knee, jarring him to the left instead.

The shift caused his grip to loosen and she stumbled away from him. Instead of teleporting away – because she still needed to know if this was a HYDRA driven attack - she surged forwards despite the twinge in her shoulder. He caught the weak punch aimed at his throat and twisted her arm, shifting his grip to her wrist and placing his other hand on the back of her shoulder to apply more pressure and force the movement. Mariana twisted with the movement and threw the elbow of her free arm into his face.

Well, his mask. She had kind of forgotten he was wearing that. However, she ended up knocking it off and forcing him to release her. Twisting, she aimed a spinning kick at his abdomen but saw he was going to attempt to catch her foot. He was much more trained than her so it was easy for Mariana to guess he would succeed. Attempting to change tactic would have thrown her off balance though and he would certainly take advantage of that should the moment arise. So she followed through.

When he caught her foot she knew he was going to flip her and slam her to the ground, having seen Rumlow execute the move often, so instead of fighting it she allowed him to lift her. At the same time, she kicked off the ground with her other foot to add extra momentum and slammed her foot into his chest.

The shock caused him to let her go and they both went down hard.

Mariana gasped for air as the breath was knocked right out of her upon impact. Crossbones recovered quicker and was on her immediately, hands around her throat, lips stretched into a snarl that made his already scarred face even uglier. She gasped, still having not caught her breath and now being unable to. Distantly she heard crashing and shouting getting further away indicating the Avengers were successfully herding the hound-bots away.

She made a grab for his hair while slamming her foot into the back of his knee as he hunched over her struggling form. He only grunted and shifted his grip to tighten it. Last time she had been with HYDRA they had wanted to use her not kill her but now several of their own were dead by her hands, she had called them out quite publicly and she knew the location of one of their bases, even if she couldn't get herself there. Feelings were sure to have changed.

Mariana managed to wriggle her knee free and connected it to his abdomen three times in quick succession. At the same time, she yanked forcefully on his hair with her right hand and landed an extremely sloppy punch to his jaw with her left. While she was pretty sure that was the weakest punch she had ever thrown, it had the desired effect of getting him to loosen his hold.

She immediately threw herself upwards, dislodging him from his position above her, and rolled to the side, heaving in deep breaths before pushing herself to her feet. Rumlow had done the same and was chuckling lowly to himself as he stood a few feet from her. He wasn't moving to attack her again just yet and she wasn't anywhere near ready to attack him so she waited with a glare fixed on his shaking form.

"HYDRA send their regards by the way," he finally spoke once he had sobered up. He took a slow and deliberate step forward. "Though Markus would have much preferred to do this himself after all of that hard work he put into you." Another step forward. Mariana refused to take a step back, to show any sign she was intimidated. "Tell me, how are your abilities faring? I was told he had expected some…side effects to your treatment."

Mariana was intimidated. Hell yes was she intimidated. She was also absolutely terrified. But then she was angry. And something inside of her just _snapped._

She lunged at him from the front but teleported to that she made contact behind him. As soon as she did make contact they were at the docks. Rumlow stumbled from her sneak attack and twisted just in time for her to punch him in the face. Harder this time.

He laughed mockingly again. "And I thought you would react bad when I told you about our plans for the Asset."

Mariana hit him again. And again. And again. She threw blow after blow at him, not even pausing when most were deflected or hurt her more than they hurt him or when he got in his own few on her ribs. She just kept hitting him. Oblivious to the dock workers still hanging around - they were far enough from the fighting to believe they would be okay – she kept hitting him, stepping forward with each blow and forcing him back.

Until he hit the water.

And dragged her in with him.

Somehow, they still managed to trade a few blows under the water. But she had one of the straps on his uniform in a white-knuckled grip to keep herself steady and prevent them floating apart and his weapons were dragging them down. She teleported, hoping to get up for a little air but at the same time refusing to release him because they _deserved it_. _HYDRA_ deserved it and _he_ _was HYDRA._

But it backfired. It seemed that after everything she had been able to accomplish that day with her abilities, now that it was life or death – _her_ life or death – they failed her.

She teleported them deeper down.

They were caught and they both knew it. He had the upper body strength to pull himself and his weapons out but she would have to let go. If she released him then he might get away. Or he might try to gain the upper hand and drag her down further. If she didn't release him she would drown with him.

She let him go.

She didn't want to risk using her abilities in case they brought her further down or somewhere else entirely and her lungs were already on _fire_ so she immediately swam to the surface.

With much effort, Mariana was able to drag herself out of the water, coughing and spluttering as she flopped onto her back and closed her eyes. Crossbones would most likely take the opportunity to get out of there because now she had noticed the audience they'd had the entire time.

When she opened her eyes and stumbled to her feet she noticed two or three of the dock workers readying themselves to rush to her aid but she waved them away. Instead, she approached the nearest guy to her and huffed out a single question between coughs and gasps for air.

"Big bad robot fight, where do I find it from here?" After he gave her some directions and she realised she really wasn't that far, Mariana staggered in that direction, right arm wrapped around her mid-section with her left hand pressed to her right shoulder. The burn had healed but had still been a little weak, the pain made her think she might have pulled something and she almost groaned at the thought.

. . .

Even unsteady on her feet, Mariana managed to make her way to the scene of the fighting relatively quickly. Her mask was long gone but her uniform and the fact that her face had been everywhere over the past few days got her past what remained of the police perimeter pretty easily. Judging by the lack of noise and the littered 'corpses' of the doggy-bots, the fight was almost over at the very least.

But with her comm gone there was no real way to know until she reached the others. Steve had removed his cowl, Iron Man's face plate was up and everyone was standing nearby looking incredibly tense and a little worse for wear in most cases. Mariana made an attempt to uncurl herself and stand a little straighter, anticipating what was to come.

Daredevil noticed her presence first. "Mariana!" he exclaimed before jogging towards her. The others followed behind. "What happened?"

"Are you okay?" Clint asked immediately after as he caught up to Daredevil.

"I'm fine."

"She has a cracked rib, a few bruised ones and her shoulder is nearly dislocated. Not to mention her hands," Daredevil immediately rebuffed. No one bothered to ask how he knew that.

"Okay so I'm not _fine._ But I'm not broken either."

Then Steve was there, frowning at her with his 'you are so in trouble' Captain face on. "I told you to stand down and go help Sam."

Mariana blinked because she hadn't heard that in the garble of voices before she lost her comm. She told him as much.

"You need to pay more attention in the field. We needed you focussed. Now Sam's wings are done and he's injured." Mariana's eyes flickered to the man in question who was leaning on Bucky. He gave her a small smile but he looked beat to hell with a potentially broken leg and various other injuries.

Mariana faltered. "I'm sorry," was about all she could get out.

"Steve…" Clint attempted to placate their leader who just shook his head.

"I let you out in the field today against my better judgement because I trusted you when you said you were ready but you refused to follow a simple order."

"There was a hostile in the area," she defended quietly.

"Mariana, you know that you could have dropped him off in the tower's interrogation room if you felt they were that much of a threat." Natasha was, albeit reluctantly, backing Steve up.

"Hold up a minut-" Mariana cut Daredevil off in his defence of her actions.

"No I couldn't." She looked down, not wanting to see the disappointment. "My abilities…they aren't working properly. Haven't been since I got back. The press conference was a fluke and I barely took the civilians more than a few blocks in case I couldn't get back again."

"Mari," Tony began, "Why the hell didn't you tell us? Even I know that you shouldn't be out in the field." He tried to be gentle, from Tony that meant a lot. Or would have, if it hadn't made her mad.

"I know! Okay? I know I screwed up!" Mariana's head snapped up to look at them all, the fire in her eyes doused by the tears threatening to spill. "But excuse me if after everything I had some twisted delusion that I needed to prove that I still belonged here! Forgive me if my head wasn't in it but I got the damn job done. The civilians were safe and I'm sorry Sam, truly I am sorry I wasn't there. But I was kind of busy getting my ass handed to me."

"And where is that hostile you mentioned now? The one you disobeyed an order for?" She knew Steve was only being the thorough leader he was, pointing out the flaws to be improved on. But in the moment she couldn't help but fixate on his disappointed tone and something in her mind twisted it until it reminded her of Markus, looking down on her and telling her she was delusional for thinking her family was going to come save her.

And for the second time that day: she lost it.

She stepped forward and swung at him.

Everybody froze.

Mariana stumbled backwards, bringing both of her shaking hands up over her gaping mouth as she stared in disbelief.

Steve remained with his head bowed and angled downwards to the right.

Everyone else was either staring at Mariana or were fixated by the blood on Steve's face that definitely wasn't his.

"I'm sorry," Mariana shook her head and took off sprinting away from the team.


	12. Chapter 12: Wise Words

Mariana wasn't thinking anymore. Auto-pilot was her new best friend as she fled from the scene of her shocked family members, completely ignoring her injuries in favour of focussing on not letting the tears finally spill over.

She wouldn't break now. Couldn't break now. She just needed to clear her head.

Punching Steve had been a huge mistake. She knew she wasn't strong enough to have hurt him but that didn't excuse the intention. And her brain was frankly freaking her out at that moment, how the image of Steve's face and voice had twisted into that _monster's_. Steve. Loyal, funny, righteous, I'm-Your-Big-Brother-so-I'll-protect-you Steve.

God, it was all so messed up.

She just needed away from there.

. . .

"Mari!" Clint took off after their little sister but got no more than three feet before she was gone, having teleported away to Lord-knows-where. He spun back on his heel to march back to where the rest of the team still stood, face like thunder as he did so.

Steve remained staring at the ground, unseeing. He knew he had messed up; gone too far. It had always been the way. He made Captain America into a separate entity long ago and knew that the personality he adopted when he took up that shield was a true soldier. He knew his first instinct after a mission for the last year had been to critique every move they made.

It had become a type of compensation method after Mariana had gone missing. He had wanted to make sure none of them ever messed up enough to be lost to them like she had been. Because her disappearance had made the possibility all the more real in his mind.

He had gotten carried away and forgotten he was speaking to her, that she hadn't grown accustomed to his post-mission critiques since she had been back. He saw how she would have taken it all the wrong way; but she had disobeyed direct orders and the Captain in him was furious because just look at her! Her actions got not only herself hurt but also another member of the team.

But he had gone too far.

"I know," he stopped Clint before his angry rant even began with those two words and looked up. Clint was still angry but the raw pain in Steve's eyes told him all he needed to know. So with a sharp nod, he shut his mouth.

"He was HYDRA, the hostile." Daredevil's tense voice broke through the hush that had descended on them all and caused Bucky's shoulders to tense up. He took out the comm device and tossed it at Natasha who caught it easily. "You lot wouldn't have heard it but I was able to pick up a few bits of what was said just after he ripped out her comm. She left the line open, I think she knew I would hear. Or at least she hoped."

"They came after her in the middle of a fight?" Sam questioned.

"They orchestrated the fight from the sounds of it. The guy didn't exactly deny the accusation when she threw it out there. He did mention a Markus and expected 'side-effects' to Mariana's…'treatment' which seemed to set her off because I heard someone get hit then nothing, I'm assuming that's when she teleported."

Bucky was vehemently shaking his head. "No."

"Mean Machine?"

"She didn't…she couldn't… _shit!_ " The last word was practically a growl and every few seconds the ex-assassin's hand was twitching towards his pistol. Sam gestured to Natasha who came over to support him as Bucky began shifting his weight as though he wanted to pace.

"All right Ice-pop, I don't know if you've noticed but we are all worried about our little sis right now so if you could find it in you to share with the class and form a coherent sentence it would be greatly appreciated."

Bucky didn't even glare at Tony. He did stop pacing.

"If HYDRA put her in a room alone with Markus then no wonder she flinches every time I practice with my knife."

"We shouldn't talk about this here." Clint glanced around at the trickle of police officers and civilians beginning to gather at the site. None close enough to overhear but he wasn't liking the idea of them all sharing Mariana's personal issues in an open area never mind at all. "Let's get back to the tower. We can talk more there."

. . .

Mariana ended up teleporting herself right into the middle of yet another New York disaster. An octopus was attacking Times Square and was being fought off by a spider. Well, technically they were both just guys that looked like an octopus and a spider, in the case of the octo guy. The spider guy didn't look like a spider per say, but he definitely held a spider vibe. And then there was his name.

Spider-Man.

What was it with Mariana and her strange ability to attract weirdos with powers? Was it a secondary ability of hers? A latent mutant gene perhaps? She didn't exactly have time to debate that though because even with tears streaming down her face, abilities that were not working correctly and numerous injuries she still felt obligated to help out.

Since she had been back at the tower she had been catching up on the last year and Spider-Man had come up regularly. She recognised the name and costume from a few months before she had disappeared when he had shown up and saved New York from a giant lizard. Props to Spider-Man considering by the time the Avengers were aware of the creature's existence he was ready to release a chemical agent on the city.

It had been a bad day for them.

That said, Mariana was pretty confident that Spider-Man was the good guy here. Octo-dad was obviously some wacked out weirdo villain then and that assumption was backed up when one of his techno-tentacles threw a car that slammed right into one of the large billboards that had already been damaged in the fight.

There were a few seconds when even the screaming of the civilians died down and both super-freaks paused in their fight sequence to watch as the screen creaked and groaned before slowly tipping forward. The chaos resumed with renewed vigor.

Spider-Man's light-hearted quips were nowhere to be found as he dodged and weaved between the tentacles that swung for him, using his webs to throw himself towards the screen with speed Mariana had not seen in anyone bar Steve and sometimes Bucky. The man's flexibility as he flipped and turned could rival Natasha's. The young teleporter was in awe as he travelled so gracefully towards the screen that was tilting dangerously close to falling on the scattered civilians below.

Then it screeched and began it's decent.

But Spider-Man was just in time as he dropped to the beams the screen had previously been attached and shot two webs to catch it. The screen was suspended in the air and everyone breathed out in relief for merely a second before the strain on Spider-Man at the awkward angle became obvious.

He couldn't hold it.

There were still civilians in range of the screen's descent.

Mariana took off running.

"Come on," she muttered to herself as she ignored the protest of her ribs and shoulders. _"Come on!"_ Then she was right under the suspended screen and was grabbing civilians left right and centre. Within seconds the entire area was clear, including a good several feet around the area.

With that she teleported up to the beam beside the other costumed hero. "Hey! The civilians are clear down there, any way you can extend that webby-stuff and let her down gently like she's your brother's sister?" Not the time for bad jokes Mariana.

He huffed a laugh but nodded an affirmative and the screen began lowering to the ground below gently but relatively quickly. "Thanks," he finally said after a glance around told him Doc Oc had taken the distraction and used it to scuttle away undetected. Mariana noticed too and cursed inwardly because that was the second bad guy in as many hours that got away.

"Race you to that roof?" Mariana assumed he was grinning beneath his mask but didn't have time to reply before he was swinging away so she closed her eyes and teleported.

She fell short by a few metres.

Then she actually fell.

There was a brief moment where she cursed out the mood swings of her abilities before she was opening her mouth to release the scream caught in her throat as her arms flailed and she tried and failed to teleport to safety. _Great timing abilities._

Then something crashed into her, knocking the air right out of her lungs for the second time that day and setting her ribs ablaze with pain. But at least she was no longer plunging to her death.

"Uh, that wasn't the roof I was talking about," Spider-Man commented as he gently placed her on top of one of the nearby buildings. "In fact, that wasn't a roof at all."

Mariana looked down and cradled her mid-section defensively, muttering a quiet "I'm aware," before realising she was still wearing her Quantum gear – sans the mask – and in the eyes of the public, Quantum was not some awkward teenager. So she straightened as much as her injuries would allow.

"Okay…Wait…are you hurt?"

Mariana shrugged. "Just came from an Avengers battle in Hell's Kitchen."

Spider-Man nodded before tilting his head to the side and while she couldn't see his eyes, Mariana could feel him studying her.

"Y'know, I've gotten kind of good at wrapping ribs if you want some help with that?"

Mariana raised an eyebrow at the awkward offer but smiled politely. "No thanks Bruce can help me out when I get ho-" she sucked in a breath and shook her head. "Home. When I get home."

"Family troubles?"

"I punched Captain America in the face."

"You…"

"Yep."

"Why?!"

She sighed and looked away. "I don't even know myself. It's just…" She angrily scrubbed her hand over her face before dropping it back to her side. "It's been a long day."

"I've got some time. I was gonna take a burrito break about now anyway and there is this great place not far from here that will serve me because I kind-of-but-not-really-but-they-think-I-did saved the owner's daughter a while back and they are lenient about the mask. We can go grab a bite and chill on another rooftop because, who doesn't love burritos and who doesn't love rooftops? As long as you don't mind the web-travel that is."

Marian blinked at Spider-Man because it was quickly becoming clear he was closer to her age than she had first thought. And he was offering her food. And he hadn't mentioned that her abilities were obviously all over the damn show, only offering to gift her a 'lift' instead. Which she appreciated because he didn't make her feel broken or deformed now that she didn't have complete control of her gift. But mainly she fixated on the fact that he was offering to buy her food.

. . .

Turns out, web-travel wasn't too bad. In fact, Mariana was tempted to call it exhilarating. Spider-Man had bought them some food – despite Mariana's protests because she had no money tucked away in her uniform but somehow he did – and found themselves sitting on a random roof, out of view of the streets.

Spider-Man rolled the mask up to his nose so that he could eat and they sat in companionable silence. For less than a minute.

"So, usually after a Doc Oc attack the petty criminals are quiet in the area for at least an hour so until my trusty police scanner tells me otherwise, I'm a free ear. Although why you would _pay_ for an ear I'm not entirely sure…"

Mariana raised an eyebrow but noticed the roof he had taken them to had a backpack in the corner and a radio-like device sat beside it, crackling with voices. "And burden such an innocent soul with my dark past?" she teased.

"Point is," The man's voice took on a more serious tone, "if you want to…talk…to someone who doesn't exactly know you and isn't in a position to judge…I guess I'm trying to say if my mask makes it easier to talk then…talk."

The young teleporter studied the spider intently as she chewed on her mouthful of burrito. Raising the delicious meal in the air slightly she pointed at it. "I'll tell you after I eat this."

And she did.

She told him the whole godforsaken story. Well, the cliff notes version really. But she told him from the beginning, right back when she was eight, the fostercare system, running away, SHIELD, he Avengers, HYDRA, Markus, Daredevil – minus the identity, which he understood because, well, duh – going home, the evaluations, their recent fight, Crossbones, her abilities. All of it.

She was only glad to have finished the burrito first or else the bread would have been soggy with the tears that spilled over pretty quick. She ended up with her head buried in Spider-Man's shoulder, sniffling quietly as he ran a gloved hand along her arm with an awkward gentleness.

"So," she gave a huff of a self-deprecating laugh, "now you know the story that the reporters would have killed for. What do ya think?"

He didn't hesitate or beat around the bush or even sprinkle a little bit of sugar on his answer. "I think you're a self-sacrificing moron."

Mariana blinked.

"I mean, really. Not to be rude but you asked."

Mariana blinked.

Spider-Man shifted uncomfortably. "Look, the way I understand from your explanation, your abilities work perfectly fine when a civilian needs saving but the second you need them to work for your own benefit they 'crap out' as you put it. Therefore, you either have a death wish that is affecting your abilities or what you've been through has caused you to have such a low regard for your own life that it is affecting your abilities. Now you seem quite content to be alive so you can refer back to my 'self-sacrificing moron' theory."

Mariana took a few seconds to gather her bearings before groaning loudly. "Oh God, you're not a psychologist are you?"

Spider-Man laughed. "No."

"Psych student?"

"Nope."

"Then what the hell makes you think I'm a self-sacrificing moron?!"

She couldn't see his face as he had once more lowered his mask but Mariana could see his shoulders tense ever so slightly in contrast to his light voice. "Takes one to know one."

And Mariana laughed so hard she cried…again.

Spider-Man joined her that time until she twisted wrong and was reminded once again of her injuries and hissed in pain.

"Alright," Spider-Man sobered, "enough fooling, you need seen to. Think you can make it back to the AT on your own or do I need to swing?"

"I can give it a shot."

"Just remember, it isn't life or death this time, you're just going home." Then his mask twisted and she could swear he was grinning beneath the fabric as he skipped backwards to the edge of the roof, nodding at the police scanner over by his backpack. "Now, I have a mugging to stop but if you ever need another free ear, give your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man a call!" With that, he flipped backwards. The 'fwip' of his webbing being used was the only indicator that he hadn't become a spider pancake.

. . .

Mariana made a Bee-line for Bruce's lab when she arrived on the roof of the Avengers Tower, or AT as Bug-Boy had called it. As expected though, he wasn't there and a quick inquiry with JARVIS told her he was with the others in the conference room where she had first gotten changed.

She was going to take a minute to compose herself before seeing all of them but knew JARVIS would have informed them the minute she arrived so she used the elevator and went straight there to save them all a little time. When she entered the room everyone was sitting around the table.

The mood seemed sombre but eight sets of eyes lit up when they fell on her as she awkwardly walked into the room. She must have been gone longer than she had realised because Sam had a cast on his leg and everyone's injuries appeared to have been tended to already.

Steve began rising from his seat first but the apology never got past his lips before Mariana had sprinted around the table and thrown her arms around his waist, face smothered into his chest. He returned the embrace without question, holding his little sister close and resting his chin on top of her head.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she pulled back and scrutinised his face. There wasn't a mark but she could still picture the smudge of Crossbones' and her blood on his cheek. Steve just blinked at her.

"You're sorry?" he repeated incredulously. "Mari, no. _I'm_ sorry. I had no right to say what I did and I shouldn't have said anything like what I did."

Mariana shook her head slowly. "Steve, you're the team leader, you had every right. I know it wasn't your intention to be cruel and I shouldn't have kept secrets from any of you."

"Well," Tony stood and sauntered over, putting one arm over Steve's shoulders and pulling Mariana close with the other, placing a soft kiss on her head. "We are just glad you came home again but we are going to have a serious talk right after Bruce looks you over. DD over there mentioned a few worrying injuries and I doubt you ran into a doctor on your travels."

Less than half an hour later they were all back in the conference room dressed down in casual clothes - except for Matt still sat in his Daredevil gear. Mariana apologised to Sam continuously until the man reached over and cuffed her on the back of the head before staring intensely into her eyes. "Drop it," he said and she did, understandingly.

So she told everyone everything that had been troubling her since she had returned to them, her un-cooperative abilities and all of her fears about integrating back into the team. Clint had rolled his eyes and affectionately called her an idiot.

Bruce – ever the scientist - had asked exactly what the problem with her abilities was. With a chuckle she had shrugged.

"That leads me on to another issue altogether: Spider-Man. He was fighting some Octopus dude in Times Square, which happens to be exactly where I ended up after I left. Anyway, a billboard screen was knocked off and the webbed hero wasn't going to be able to hold it up for long. So naturally my abilities decided to work so I leant a hand. Kind of spilled my guts to the poor sod over a burrito on a roof. Well, after a burrito."

Everyone just stared.

"A burrito?" Tony questioned.

Mariana nodded. "He kept the mask on though, just rolled it up. Anyway, while that was interesting and all that, I did tell him about my current predicament and he had an…interesting opinion on it.

"Which was?" Natasha prompted.

"He called me a self-sacrificing moron."

"So nothing new then," Clint commented. "I mean, every time you disobeyed an order or did something reckless in the past was to save someone else. Like right after New York. We were off apprehending Loki but you were pulling people out of the rubble for hours, completely ignoring your own needs until you dropped from exhaustion. All so you could save a few more people."

The others were just nodding along in agreement so Mariana brushed it off as something they had all noticed and not brought up with her before.

"So assuming Spider-Man is right, - and I'm sure your family will lecture you on the dangers of telling your life story to a masked vigilante - how does this affect your abilities exactly?" Mariana smiled at Daredevil's professional tone with just a little bit of sassy Matt thrown in.

"It's just a theory but…I think he might be right. He suggested that what," she took a deep breath, shaking it off because she would need to say it eventually. "He suggested that what happened to me with HYDRA caused me to have a low regard for my own life which I've allowed to affect my powers. I guess what he was getting at was that my desire to help people surpasses whatever mental block it is affecting my powers but…"

"But?" Sam prompted.

"But Crossbones, Rumlow, he…yeah…" Mariana trailed off at the ashen faces of Bucky, Steve, Natasha and Sam. "He was the hostile. By the looks on your faces I'm sure you all know he is HYDRA then."

"You fought him?" Sam exclaimed. "I thought he was dead, we fought and it took a building dropping on him to take the damn guy down!"

Mariana chuckled without humour. "And he has the scars to prove it, hence his new mask and uniform."

"You're questioning this theory, aren't you?"

Mariana nodded at Daredevil. "Did you…?"

"Yeah, I heard and I told everyone else what I heard. Barnes filled us in on who exactly Markus is."

Mariana stiffened significantly but Bucky subtly shifted closer on her left and that was all the support she needed to muster up a nod and return to the current conversation. They could discuss that later. Or, y'know, never.

"Right, well, uh, yeah, he mentioned side-effects but if this…mental block or whatever it is, is really what is wrong here then how in the name of sanity could Markus have predicted it? He couldn't possibly have so either this entire theory is wrong or there is something else at play here that hasn't reared its ugly head just yet."

"That's it, no more waiting. Bruce, come on buddy we are going to run that examination little miss here managed to skip out on and we are going to add to it. Mari, we will do science for days if that's what it takes to figure this out but you can count on the Science Bros to do just that." With that, Tony left the room, dragging Bruce along with him by the sleeve while talking animatedly.

"So how long until he realises they left Mariana back here with us?" Everyone laughed at Daredevil's innocent question, the tension in the room dissipating in seconds.

Steve turned to him. "There is another issue at hand here. You helped us save a lot of people today and if you want it there could be a place on this team for you."

"Maybe even in the family," Clint piped up just before Natasha elbowed him in the side.

"I'm going to have to pass. Teamwork isn't exactly a strong suit of mine and Hell's Kitchen still needs me on the ground. But if today has shown me one thing it's that Hell's Kitchen is not out of the firing line for large scale attacks so I have a proposal." At Steve's accepting nod, Daredevil slid a memory drive pulled from one of the pouches on his uniform across the table. JARVIS scanned it and brought up the contents.

Mariana burst out laughing.

"He didn't," she gasped.

Daredevil smirked. "Yes, Mariana. He figured that knowing you might lead to an eventual co-op with your super family and a potential invitation to join up. However, being the clingy person he is and knowing I had no such intentions, he decided it would be best to draw up a contract to protect both myself and the Avengers from any future…legal troubles."

Steve and Natasha were scanning through the contract JARVIS had pulled up, Bucky was trying not to grin, Clint was chortling in the corner and Sam was openly gaping.

"He?" Sam spluttered.

"His best friend is a lawyer." Mariana figured it was technically the complete truth.

"From what I gather, this states you will be available to offer assistance should it be needed in the immediate area, however, out of country missions are out of bounds unless potentially world-ending. You will get access to Avengers' training facilities on a regular basis should you choose to use them. A non-negotiable no-un-masking clause - unless you decide otherwise we cannot actively attempt to figure out your identity."

"Who's going to break it to the tin can?" Bucky joked quietly causing Mariana to grin.

"And apparently, should you ever be invited to a public Avengers event you will be allowed two guests of your choice," Natasha added to Steve's list.

"Oh is that what it says?" Daredevil snarked. "I thought it was his shopping list. Oops."

Steve smiled politely. "I'll have it sent to one of Tony's lawyers, they will want to look over this." Daredevil nodded.

"Want me to drop you off? I think I got enough of a handle on my abilities right now if you're willing to risk it." He took Mariana up on her offer without question and she placed a hand on his shoulder, teleporting him back to his apartment. "We are at the bottom of the stairs, facing the couch."

He nodded gratefully and tugged off his mask.

"Foggy didn't draw up that contract, did he?"

"Yeah, nope."

Mariana grinned and hugged Matt tightly. "Thank you for helping us out today. And for sticking around after even though you didn't have to."

"It wasn't a bother. You know, I think that Spider-Man was right. Your abilities…the buzz that usually comes along with them is a little stronger now than it was when you left. Steadier too. Maybe realising the problem is helping you to rectify it in your own head."

"Maybe," Mariana sighed. "But for now I'm going to go home and get examined by scientists, spend time with my family and ignore my problems for a few hours."

Matt laughed. "I said a little stronger not completely so be careful. Stay safe kid. And call if you need me, seriously."

"I will, thanks bro."

 **. . .**

 **Hehe, enjoy that Spider-Man cameo?**

 **Not sure if we will see much more of our favourite web-slinger in this fic but I've wanted to cameo him for a while and figured Mariana needed an outsider point of view to kick her back onto the right path.**

 **Did I do the character justice?**

 **I hope so!**


	13. Chapter 13: Burn Out

**So some aspects of this chapter I'm proud of...others...well I don't know how to feel.**

 **I re-wrote this so many times. I'm also struggling with the last few chapters.**

 **Apologies if this one is a bit jumpy for some of you.**

 **. . .**

Mariana knew they meant well. She knew that Bruce and Tony were well into 'science mode' at that moment because they wanted to be able to help figure out what was wrong and help her to fix it. She knew all of this and appreciated it beyond what she could express but she just couldn't be bothered.

She was tired. No, exhausted. A battery of questions and blood tests and _'can you raise your arms and say ah'_ because Tony is more of a child than her was not what she needed right then. But she knew they meant well and she knew it was necessary because they needed to know what was going on with her.

But she just wanted to sleep.

. . .

It was with a loud yawn and un-coordinated steps that Mariana stumbled into Bruce's lab-turned-med-bay and slumped down into a waiting chair. The older men were deep in a discussion but noticed her sleepy entrance quite quickly.

"Hey, kid. Think you can keep your eyes open long enough?"

Mariana smiled half-heartedly, noticing the bags under the billionaire's eyes and knowing he had been up all night inventing. "Can you?"

"We can do this tomorrow Mari."

"Tempting Bruce but I'd rather get it done as soon as possible so we have more time to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it. Just, no jumping jacks this time Tony."

The genius grinned and clapped his hands before launching into a long-winded explanation that Mariana pretended to listen to as Bruce nodded along, drawing Mariana's blood at her accepting nod while she looked away from the needle. They needed her up on the treadmill for her heartrate but her vision was swimming and her head pounding. She shook her head and pushed to her feet.

She was still semi-conscious when she hit the floor so she could see the second Tony and Bruce started moving towards her from their position on the other side of the room, setting up the treadmill for the readings to be taken.

Bruce reached her prone form first but she barely heard his panic-stricken voice asking questions and calling out for some piece of equipment she didn't know how to pronounce or registered his warm hands turning her over and checking her breathing. She just let her eyes close and decided she could deal with this new problem when she woke up.

Yeah, Mariana liked that idea.

. . .

"Stark! What happened?" Clint, Bucky and Natasha all burst into the room what seemed like hours after Mariana blacked out but in reality JARVIS had informed them only a minute previously. Steve had left to bring Sam back to his own apartment floor but they all knew JARVIS would let them both in on what had transpired.

Clint dashed forward but skid to a stop a mere three feet from where Bruce was doing various checks on an extremely pale, un-moving teleporter. He wanted to shove Bruce out of the way and check for himself that she was still breathing but no matter how often Banner insisted he wasn't that kind of doctor, he had far more medical experience than any of them.

So Clint stayed back a little with the others, feeling completely useless.

"She seemed tired and we offered to do all of this tomorrow but she wanted to get it over with. We took some blood, her blood pressure and her pulse but we wanted to see how her abilities affect her endurance like we checked last time, to compare results. But the second she stood up she collapsed. She was conscious at first but…"

"Dr Banner, talk to us here," Natasha grit out.

Bruce was shaking his head. "I don't understand. Her breathing is fine and her pulse is a little low but still steady. We didn't take enough blood to cause this and I can't find any outward injuries, head wounds or evidence of internal injuries that could be to blame. I don't…I don't know what's wrong with her. We need to get her to medical and get her looked at."

Everyone turned to Bucky, being the super soldier he would likely be able to carry her to medical in the shortest amount of time and with as little effort. But he hesitated and they could tell that, being comfortable enough with Mariana to hug her did not make him comfortable letting his metal arm that close to her for that long for fear of accidently hurting her.

So without question, Clint scooped the young woman up into his arms and asked JARVIS to get the door for them as everyone trailed after the rushing archer on their way to the tower's medical facilities where Tony had several doctors on call in the building. The floor served as medical offices for the entirety of the tower, including the SI employees because there were often accidents in the downstairs labs. But the doctors had a separate series of rooms for treating the Avengers.

That was exactly where they took Mariana, the elevator from the Avengers' floors taking them directly to that section of medical where they were met by two nurses who led them to the closest room so Clint could lay Mariana down.

As soon as he did she was swarmed by the two nurses and a doctor as they hooked her up to different machines and began asking questions. Bruce immediately began answering as many of their questions as he could while a third nurse directed the others out of the room to a small waiting area.

. . .

Steve showed up not ten minutes later having had to spend the time arguing with Sam to stay put because he needed to rest his leg. He was running out of the elevator before the doors were even fully open.

He found them all still in the waiting area. Bucky had taken up residence in a chair in the corner so that he could see the complete surrounding area, including the door to Mariana's room. No one was getting in or out without his knowledge. Clint and Natasha sat shoulder-to-shoulder, seemingly leaning on each other for support, both with faces of thunder but their friend could see their worry.

Tony was pacing the length of the room while Bruce was just exiting the door Bucky had been staring at intensely.

"Bruce, talk to us."

"Physically, there is no reason for her collapse. Apart from her ribs and a bad twinge to her shoulder as well as a few…scars…she is perfectly healthy."

"But there is something wrong," Bucky stated.

"Yeah, she's unconscious!"

"Tony, breathe. Call Pepper and tell her what is going on. Bruce, you said physically; otherwise?"

"I have a theory but there is no way to prove it at the minute. I think this may involve her abilities but we don't have any method of measuring them so I can't say for certain but it just seems too coincidental. I mean, she told us she'd been having problems with this 'block' of her abilities for a while and we have no idea what the repercussions of that may be. Then there are theses 'side effects' HYDRA were expecting from whatever those energy blasts they used on her actually were. In all honesty, I think we might be a little out of our depth here."

"Banner, I need you to breathe now too. Let's get some air." With that, Steve led the slightly green, very twitchy doctor to the elevator and up to the roof. Tony ended his call to a very concerned Pepper who assured him she would be there after her meeting. Natasha gave a single pat to Clint's shoulder while he looked down at the floor before getting up and leaving with no explanation while Bucky returned to staring at the door.

"She mentioned vibrations once." Tony and Clint both looked up at the assassin-turned-guard-dog who remained staring at the piece of wood. "I had a bad night and she came down to the kitchen for hot chocolate, I just needed away from Steve in case he woke up and asked questions. But she was talking about random things, one of which was her abilities.

"I think she thought I wasn't paying attention but I was and she mentioned feeling like there were vibrations in the air whenever she used her abilities." He looked up at Tony. "Can you make something to monitor that?"

Clint smacked himself on the forehead. "I didn't even think! God, I'm an idiot."

Tony didn't even respond to either of them, just dashed off towards the elevator, already calling out to his faithful AI in a language neither of them fully understood but both felt a little better that _something_ was being done now that they at least at some part in. For now, the two just resumed their previous positions in silence.

. . .

It wasn't hard for Natasha to find the contact in Mariana's cell phone.

The contact name DD with a devil emoticon wasn't exactly subtle and that was exactly what she had been counting on. The red-head didn't even feel bad at the invasion of her little sister's privacy. She had seen the way Mariana and Daredevil interacted while in the field and afterwards and had instantly known that no matter how short a time they had known each other; he was her family too.

"Mariana? I expected you to stay out of trouble for at least a day, kid."

"Mariana is currently in an Avengers medical facility. She collapsed not twenty minutes ago and I thought you should be informed considering how close you two seemed earlier."

"I can be there in an hour."

"You can bring along your lawyer friend and your secretary too if you'd like. Mari is not as subtle as she likes to think and she's always talking about you three saving her butt and helping her out. If you didn't realise already, she considers you three to be family, almost as much as she does the rest of us."

"I thought our contract covered the 'no un-masking' thing."

"I figured it out long before you put forward your contract Murdock. I'll tell JARVIS you three are on your way and he'll take you right up."

"Okay." There was a pause. "Thank you, Widow."

Natasha hung up the phone.

. . .

Within thirty minutes Pepper had shown up, having hurried the meeting along as much as possible. She immediately began talking to the doctor working on Mariana's case. They still weren't allowed into the room with her until they knew exactly what was going on but the CEO demanded to be informed the second that changed.

Within an hour three new faces had appeared, though some of the Avengers did recognise them but couldn't quite place the concerned faces. Natasha stood to greet them and they were all soon introduced to Mariana's extended family, the lawyers who saved her ass as she had told the story. Natasha made no mention of Matt's other identity.

Within three hours Tony had a machine ready to monitor Mariana's abilities and had already tested it multiple times. After assuring the doctors that it wouldn't cause a major shut down of her brain it was hooked up to the young teleporter and the results were being fed to Tony's tablet consistently.

At 3:00 am, Thor arrived. Heimdall had apparently seen the events unfolding and had endeavoured to inform the prince but he had been in the middle of an intense sparring session with Frandal and had only just been told, upon which he had travelled straight to Midguard.

And so, with everyone together, The Avengers and co – even Sam had been on the phone for a while threatening to crawl up there - settled in for the wait, each worrying silently over their youngest, long ago having made it clear they were not leaving.

It was 1:00 pm the next day before they were allowed into the room.

. . .

Mariana didn't dream while she was unconscious.

She didn't experience the passage of time while she was out of it.

Nor was she aware of anything going on around her. They said sometimes patients in her position could still hear but she processed no sounds. She wasn't quite sure what it was that prompted her to open her eyes the but she immediately wanted to close them again.

She was still exhausted.

The room wasn't especially bright, there was a lamp on to her right near the head of the bed and another in the opposite corner of the room, under which Pepper was curled up with a book.

"Pep?"

The red-head's eyes met Mariana's so quickly the girl almost flinched away from the wide-eyed stare.

"Mari! My God, you're awake!"

"Uh, yeah. Was I asleep long? Wait, why am I in medical?"

"You weren't just asleep Mari; you've been unconscious for close to a week. You've had us all worried half to death."

"A week?" Mariana squeaked.

"Yes. Now I'm going to go get the doctor and tell the others so you sit tight and don't even think about sitting up." Mariana raised her hands in surrender as Pepper swept out of the room, returning moments later with a man in a white coat who identified himself as Dr Anderson.

Dr Anderson explained what had happened to her in medical terms which essentially wasn't much and she knew Bruce would explain it all better anyway so she only nodded along like she was listening until Bruce shuffled into the room with Tony hot on his heels. Anderson told her she was free to go after they ran a few checks but for now he left them alone.

She was immediately engulfed in a hug.

"Ompf! Tony!"

"You scared us kid. Again."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, at least we got to meet your lawyer family. The blind guy has jokes but his blonde friend, the male one, looked kind of star struck after he got over the fact that you would be okay. Not that I'm complaining because, well, we are the Avengers."

"Matt, Foggy and Karen are here?"

"Were," Bruce piped up. "They had a court session to attend but they arranged to come back later on. The others are all upstairs; we didn't want to crowd you."

"Okay, so someone give me the bad news in English this time."

"We are pretty sure that those energy blasts HYDRA used on you had more long term effects than we expected. We didn't notice before because you were using your abilities rather sparsely because of this mental block you've managed to create for yourself. But over the few days before you passed out you used your abilities quite a lot. We believe this caused a…short circuit of sorts regarding your abilities."

"Short circuit?"

"It's not so easy to explain," Bruce sighed as he rubbed a hand over his forehead. Tony came to his rescue.

"Sure it is Brucie. She used her abilities a lot and the surge of power that required caused her energy to become severely depleted, hence the beauty sleep. She just needed to re-charge her batteries and it was only because her body had to adapt to the large use of her abilities so quickly. After some time and once we fix up the psyche side of things you'll be good as new Mar."

"Right," she drawled. "So, what? Just use my abilities more and I won't be on bed rest again?"

"Gradually. You can't just dive straight in again and use your abilities constantly or you'll end up right back here again, but you should gradually build up momentum. Try teleporting once or twice more every day and if you feel anywhere close to tired give yourself a rest."

"Okay," she nodded at Bruce's elaboration and then frowned. "What if I can't get rid of this block though?"

"Wilson wants to work on that with you if you're up for it."

"You guys have it all figured out, don't you?"

"Maybe."

Pepper laughed. "Right, time to get you checked out. I'm sure the others want to see you for themselves and Tony is just dying to bust you out of here."

The man in question just grinned.

. . .

Another week later and Mariana was goddamn sick of this arrangement.

Talking to Sam was fine. He was fun to be around and if ever she seemed to be slipping into a bad state all he had to do was make a stupid pun and she was back to her usual self. He didn't make her talk about things so much. It was more like he just wove the topic of her abilities and her experiences with HYDRA into the conversation here and there. She was glad to finally talk about it to someone who wasn't a hired shrink there to evaluate her that one time.

A few days after she was released from medical she had been talking to Sam. It was the first time she initiated a conversation about what happened to her. It had been a real crap night filled with nightmares and bad memories. She could deal with those. It was the complete numbness she had felt as she got out of bed and went about her morning routine that got to her. Logically, she knew after a night that bad she should feel something. Anything. So she spilled a little to Sam in hopes that maybe something would click.

He had realised what she was doing fairly quickly and in a voice that held no judgement or pity, in a voice so very _Sam_ , told her he knew what she was trying to do and that it was okay.

The onslaught of emotions hit her like an eighteen wheeler and Mariana was certain she had forgotten how to breathe when it did.

But Sam was there.

Hobbling over to sit beside her, not far but not touching either, speaking at a normal volume that still seemed to drown out the memory of Markus' voice in her head as her fellow-Avenger attempted to ground her in her panic attack. Telling her to breathe and count the number of doors and windows in the room.

Sam was there.

And Mariana felt a little better for that. Afterwards, talking to Sam seemed even easier so that wasn't what she was sick of.

She didn't even mind the fussing of the other Avengers. Well…that's not strictly true. She understood their reasoning and tolerated their approach but it was still frustrating.

Clint refused to leave her side most of the time if she wasn't with Sam and even on the few occasions she had convinced him to leave she knew he was likely hiding out in the ventilation system. Everyone else watched her closely. Every time she yawned or closed her eyes for just a little too long she had at least three of them appearing out of virtually nowhere – Seriously, how did Thor get into her apartment? - and trying to send her to her room to sleep even if she claimed to not be tired.

But what really got to her in the end was the training with her abilities.

Because that is essentially what it was. When she had first developed her abilities there had not been anyone around willing to help her hone her new skills, no, she had figured them out all by her lonesome at eight years old. Then HYDRA got involved and they were more interested in replicating her abilities in someone older than helping her learn.

Bruce had suggested the whole 'teleport a little more every day' approach and she had to admit that the buzz of her abilities felt a lot stronger in the last week. However, every time she even considered teleporting, Steve, Bruce and sometimes Tony were there. Clint was usually lurking in a corner at all times anyway and sometimes when she was training with her abilities Bucky would materialise beside the archer to observe.

It was all very frustrating. Tony made her wear a tracker in case she went off course, which happened a few times. At first, muttering "It's not life or death," on repeat helped to keep her on course but after the fourth day that stopped helping and she was all over the show again. It was only when Bruce wanted to see if there was any change when she teleported with someone else did she end up in the right place.

So that was extremely frustrating.

On more than one occasion Mariana had found herself in a quiet hallway of the tower when trying to go somewhere else and on more than one occasion she had just sank to the floor and rested her head on top of her knees. Clint was always the one to come to get her. He wouldn't say anything, just lower himself down beside her, place an arm around her shoulders, give a small squeeze and pull her into an embrace.

No one ever asked questions when it took them ten minutes to return to the training room.

In the end, it was feeling completely useless that drove her over the edge into a rebellious teenager style tantrum. She locked herself up in her room and refused to leave. She used Pepper's override code to make JARVIS lock everyone out and shut off all the vents so that Clint couldn't sneak in. She just didn't want to see anyone.

No amount of knocking or threats from Tony or pleading from Clint or quiet attempts at conversation from Steve could make her move. She just sat on her favourite armchair and stared out the window for hours at a time. Tony had decided to put his suit on and fly outside her window at one point but she only scowled and drew the curtains.

It was two days later when Natasha slipped through the door silently and scared the crap out of the nineteen-year-old.

"Holy mother of balls! How did you get in here?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "The door." Mariana gave a pretty decent impression of Natasha's own unimpressed look and the red-head shrugged, unfazed. "Pepper gave me her override code, which thanks to you and Barnes she will now be changing."

"Barnes?"

"Not important." Natasha straightened and became serious as she took a seat on the couch across from Mariana. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes."

"Slept?"

"Yes."

"Showered?"

"I know how to look after myself now stop mother-henning me. Frankly it's a scary look on you." Natasha smirked for a fraction of a second. Mariana was picking at threads of the blanket over her legs. "I just don't want to talk to anyone," she muttered.

"Why?" Natasha just received a withering look in response. She didn't budge. Mariana sighed.

"I still can't get there." The admission came in such a quiet voice that Natasha almost had to strain to hear it. "I've been trying so hard but I can't even control my abilities anymore never mind focus them enough to get back to that base. They're probably long gone by now but if they left behind anything of importance then we need to get it. But I just can't get there! I'm too unstable to be in the field and there isn't much I can do behind the scenes here in the tower!"

"You feel…useless?"

"I am useless."

"You're an idiot is what you are." Mariana blinked. "Go see your lawyer friends. You haven't seen them much this week and you obviously need a break from the watchful eyes here at the tower. Or just get out of here, go do something, unwind. Clear your head. Come back. Try again. You are not useless, Mari. You've just had a tough break and need to get back in the saddle. So pick yourself up and get over it Mari, while you still can."

Natasha didn't wait for a response before leaving as quietly as she had come while Mariana pondered her words, staring blankly at the seat she had just vacated.

"Shit."


	14. Chapter 14: The Calm

**Good things happened today. My exams are now officially over (yay!) and I just finished writing the final chapter of this fic. I just need to edit a few things here and there. this is kind of a celebration update in that regard.**

 **So...I'm going to update more regularly now that it's finished. Instead of every week, look out for an update every 2-3 days.**

 **18 chapters in total. I have loved this and will continue to.**

 **Announcement at the end of the chapter!**

 **. . .**

All of them could see it.

A new energy seemed to have over-taken their younger sister in the following days. She threw herself into her training - both with her abilities and other physical training – like she never had before. She didn't get as drained of energy anymore and her teleporting was becoming more and more accurate, even if on the odd occasion she still over-shot a bit. _(And wasn't that just hilarious when Tony had to go pick her up from Hong freaking Kong that one time.)_

Movie nights were much more entertaining when she was throwing popcorn at the screen and scolding characters that couldn't possibly hear her.

Mariana Hadley was back in business and for the first time in a while the Avengers had hope that maybe she would stay that way.

. . .

It was quickly becoming clear to Mariana that Natasha Romanov was too damn right all of the time.

Matt and Foggy had been at court when the teleporter finally kicked her ass in to gear and considered going to see them. In a way she was glad, not having wanted to bother them in such a state as she was, bordering on self-loathing. Instead, she figured an intense work-out would do just fine to relieve a little of her stress.

No one interrupted her, only glad that she had finally extracted herself from her room and shown her face elsewhere in the tower. Even Thor, who had returned the previous day, was smart enough to give the young woman some space though. So no one interrupted her until two hours later when Mariana sauntered into the kitchen with a grin and demanded that Steve help her make _"the best Goddamn lasagne this side of Italy"._

She gave everything she had to her training after that conversation with Nat and when it came to getting down to the nitty gritty important stuff like her personal feelings and experiences – even beyond her recent bout with HYDRA and extending to her childhood and time in foster care - her sessions with Sam were getting easier. Her determination was pushing her to be better than she ever had been before.

She got Steve to start cooking with her at least twice a week. Although that particular feat took very little persuasion on her part if the instant grin on the soldier's face was any indication.

Bucky was all over her fire-arms training, even going as far as to offer tips for knife-fighting which - although she already felt far too intimate with the weapons - he insisted would benefit her since she apparently seemed intent on getting up close and personal with her adversaries.

Bruce tentatively invited her to join him in meditation again and she had agreed eagerly, incorporating some of the techniques she had picked up from Matt's during some of her short visits. Bruce was at first surprised by this but quickly left any thought on it behind because _good Lord_ he felt more in control than ever after the first session alone.

She, Clint, Tony and even Sam – who insisted that cast or not he would not be left out of the fun – were quickly getting wrapped up in a prank war that had not only Steve but Pepper too trying to wrangle the four children in their care.

Thor, on more than one occasion, had been cornered for more tales of his Asgardian battles and was more than happy to comply. Tony might have gotten a picture or two of the young teleporter curled up to the Norse God's side as said God continued to tell his story with a small smile to the sleeping girl.

Natasha had resumed Mariana's hand-to-hand training when the young woman insisted on clocking more hours at the training room but almost sprained her ankle by landing wrong from a practiced spin-kick without a partner.

Pepper, well, Pepper took her out. They went to a spa, shopped for a few hours and ate lunch at a disgustingly greasy diner before returning to the tower just in time for movie night where they demanded everybody watched a cheesy rom-com.

Essentially, things were going back to normal.

All because Natasha had been right.

As always.

Despite all of these improvements in both her mental and physical condition as well as her attitude, when the team got called out on a mission Mariana was told in no uncertain terms to _stay in the tower_ under the watchful eyes of JARVIS, Sam _and_ Pepper. She agreed, albeit begrudgingly, and watched as the team fought off yet another onslaught of knock-off bots – more humanoid in shape this time but with the exact same weakness – from JARVIS' monitoring system.

The fight was easily won with minimal injuries except _dammit Clint, you're the furthest from the fighting how the hell do you manage it?_ Regardless, it was quickly discovered that HYDRA was once more behind the attack, which effectively ruined everyone's good mood and increased Mariana's determination to get back in the saddle tenfold.

"They're obviously trying to perfect a design here," Steve said as they all re-watched footage of the fight in the conference room later. "There were fewer…bots this time but whatever they were made of was stronger."

"Same weak point though and I wasn't exactly discreet in my discovery of that the last time," Tony pointed out. "We know HYDRA was there last time so they likely know that we know. You would think they would improve something like that first but then again, they aren't exactly the smartest cookies, are they?"

"Stark has a point. Why make them more durable but still just a vulnerable?" Natasha asked.

"Maximise destruction? They're all about order through chaos, right?"

"Still, it doesn't make sense."

"None of it makes sense." Everyone turned to look at Bucky and he shrugged but his eyes had a hard edge. "This isn't HYDRA's style. They do things quietly, I mean, they used me for years and I was a ghost story. They don't do flashy. This all feels wrong."

"What if they aren't working alone?" Bruce proposed.

Steve considered it. "They haven't been known to collaborate in the past."

"They haven't been known to be in this kind of situation before."

"Clint?"

The archer sighed. "It's just, well, they were always secret. I mean, it the 40s, you guys knew and were after them like a dog after a bone but to the public at large, the existence of HYDRA only became common knowledge after the fact; when they were assumed dead and buried. Then they strived within SHIELD, completely secretly still. Not many opportunities for collaboration anyway. But now, they're in the open."

He glanced at Mariana briefly and flashed an apologetic smile before returning his attention to Steve. "They're in the open and not only have two high-profile prisoners escaped but one of them has access to one of their larger bases whether they can get there or not."

"They've also gotta be dwindling in numbers at this point. I've lost count of how many of their bases we've destroyed or operations we've brought down," Tony added.

"They're getting desperate," Natasha was nodding as if it all made sense.

"Okay," Steve agreed. "Solid theory, but who could they be working with? What organisations are there, past or present, that could be their co-conspirators?"

"These attacks weren't necessarily aimed at us though, we just happened to respond first. This could have been aimed at the Fantastic Four, the X-men, hell even an individual hero. Spider-man, Daredevil, anyone. It could be any of our enemies," Mariana groaned.

"Then we consider all of them," Steve stated calmly.

"The Brotherhood," Bruce suggested.

"Assholes give mutants a real bad image but I don't see them having the resources for this," Sam interjected.

"Doom."

Tony gave an exaggerated shiver of disgust and countered with "AIM and/or AID."

"The Hand."

Clint cringed. "Hate those stupid ninjas."

"…Mari?" Sam leaned forward, peering past Natasha, and addressed the youngest who was staring at nothing in particular with a glazed look in her eyes. "You in there?"

"Oh my God," she whispered, almost to herself, then: "Oh my God! AID!" She swivelled to Tony on her left and demanded to know what it was.

He shrugged cautiously. "A branch of AIM, Advanced Idea Mechanics. AID, which stands for Advanced Ideas in Destruction is essentially their little brother who deals more so in weapons. Why?"

But she was already mumbling to herself. "I never even thought, never paid it any attention. I thought they meant help." Then she looked up at the rest of them. "I thought they meant _help_. They meant AID. A.I.D."

"Mariana, talk to us," Steve pressed.

"Shit, yeah, sorry."

"It's okay, breathe."

"Right. So HYDRA operatives were always talking while I was around, I guess they assumed I would never be able to make heads or tails of any of it and by and largely they were right. But there was this one time, one of the operatives asked if AID was ready. At the time I thought it was weird they didn't say 'the aid', just 'AID' but admittedly I was a little…distracted. But it was mentioned a lot. Never help, always AID. I didn't know AID existed so I never made the connection."

"They only really cropped up recently. We think they were responsible for the Super Adaptoid we fought a while back." Tony nodded absently. "JARVIS, pull up everything we have on them and look for a connection to HYDRA. Any connection at all. Run it in the background and notify us when you get something."

"Sir."

Mariana may have been grinning by the end of the meeting because she had remembered something _important_. She may not be using her abilities but she finally felt useful again.

Finally.

. . .

Mariana was running trials in the training room when Clint found her.

Bruce had given her the all clear not long before to practice without supervision so long as she kept the tracker on her at all times so she was using her abilities to bounce around the room after she had already cleared the course Tony programmed for her twice.

"Hey, Mar. You want to take a break and spend some time with lil' old me?"

She appeared sitting at the edge of the boxing ring and tapped the spot beside her as she gulped down some water. The archer easily jogged over and hopped up beside her, good-naturedly snatching the half-empty water bottle and taking a few gulps himself. She glared at him with no heat behind it and knocked his elbow while he was drinking, causing some to spill.

"Whadda ya need?"

Clint chuckled as he wiped at his face. "Nothing. Can't I just want to spend some time with my little sister?"

She appeared to think about it. "Hmm. I guess."

"So, how've you been? We haven't exactly gotten the chance to sit down and talk like we used to recently." The _since you've been back really_ went unsaid by both of them. Mariana sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know. I'm sorry, I've missed you."

Clint looped an arm around her shoulders. "Me too, Mar." He pressed his lips to her hair gently. "Me too."

"I feel like something big is coming," Mariana whispered after a few minutes of silence.

Clint's grip on her shoulders tightened. They had all learnt a long time ago to trust each other's instincts. "I won't let them take you again. None of us will."

Mariana give a humourless laugh. "That's not what I meant. This…thing…HYDRA and AID working together. We have no idea what their goals are, who they're targeting – if anybody! I don't like it. We're flying blind and this isn't some alien army we can fight as we go, this is a strict, organised group of twisted individuals that don't exactly think logically. This could have been in the works for years for all we know."

"We'll pull through. We always come out on top. We're the Avengers."

She smiled. It faded quickly. "I don't want any of you to get hurt. I need to get back in the field."

"Steve's just worried about you, we all know your powers are essentially back to normal at this point. Just a little more work and you'll be right out there beside us in a few weeks."

Mariana huffed out a breath and jumped down from their perch. "HYDRA could attack tomorrow, Clint! And we have no information! I need to get this bullshit sorted, get to that damned base and see if there is any salvageable information. I need my abilities working yesterday. Not a few weeks from now."

"Hey, calm down." Clint jumped down and approached her, reaching out to place his hands on the shaking shoulders of the teleporter. "No one expects…"

Two sets of eyes widened as they both felt a familiar tingling sensation and their surroundings changed in the blink of an eye.

"Did you…?"

"I think I did…"

"Can you take us back?"

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"Wait, you have that tracker on you, right?"

"Never leave home without it."

"Okay, we need to talk to the others."

"Communal?"

"Definitely."

With that the two were standing in front of the television screen causing Tony to startle from where he was sat on the couch fiddling with a gauntlet. Steve set his sketchpad aside and raised an eyebrow while Bucky and Sam both made a swiping motion with their hands as if they could brush the intruders out of the way.

"Guys," Mariana started, buzzing with energy.

"Big news," Clint finished with a grin as he leisurely threw an arm around Mariana's shoulders while she crossed her arms with a smug smile.

"Do tell," Bucky drawls as he leant to the left to see around them.

"I did it. I found the base. Well, I guess I didn't find it but I can go there now! I don't know why now or what the hell triggered it but I had the tracker with me so the location should be recorded on JARVIS' system and I did it!"

Bucky raised an eyebrow and slowly slid to the right until he was sitting upright again, whatever was on the television completely forgotten. Sam and Steve were suddenly much more alert and Tony was already pulling up various screens and starting surveillance on the area indicated by the tracker.

The ball was officially rolling.

. . .

 _Knock. Knock knock._

Mariana rolled off of her couch at eleven pm and stumbled towards the apartment door. She was tired but she couldn't get to sleep, too much energy, so she had decided to watch re-runs of some trashy reality show until her eyes rolled back in her head. However, _someone_ had decided to interrupt these plans and she couldn't exactly say she wasn't grateful.

The door opened to reveal one metal-armed war hero dressed in black cargo pants and a long-sleeved black t-shirt that seemed to have an extra layer of protection underneath. Mariana could make out the pistols strapped to both thighs and knew that countless other weapons were bound to be hidden on his person.

He presented a very dangerous picture at first but upon closer inspection, his eyes were twinkling with equal amounts of mischief and defiance. A combination which at the same time promised both fun and a reprimand. She felt fairly underdressed in her dinosaur pyjamas and fluffy socks.

"Uh…"

"Fancy sneaking into a supposedly abandoned HYDRA base with me?"

"Um, but, Steve, uh, Steve told us to wait until JARVIS finishes the surveillance."

Bucky nodded. "Which could take days and will only give us a picture of the exterior facility. After which we'll have to wait for Stevie to make a plan to infiltrate said facility. Look, I know you want to check this place out as much as I do and with your abilities and my particular…skill set, we can clock the facility and be back here within a few hours at the most. Stevie is being cautious because he's worried about you. He trusts you, but he's worried this might be too much too soon."

"You're not?"

"We get into trouble; I trust you to get us out if I can't."

"Someone is bound to notice we are gone."

"I talked to Natasha."

"How do you plan to collect the information, if there is any."

Bucky grinned and held up a small container. "You wear these. SI bio-tech. It's new but it works. You put the contacts in and they record everything you see onto a separate hard drive." He held up a small white box with a blinking blue light and pointed to it. "Everything you see, gets saved on this so we can share with everyone else later."

"You've really thought this through."

"I'm good at planning."

"Steve'll be pissed."

"I'll deal with the punk and you are grasping at straws right now."

Mariana paused and then grinned. "What should I wear?" Truth be told, she'd been sold on whatever ridiculous plan the super soldier had concocted the moment she'd seen that glint in his eyes.

Bucky handed her a bag that had been sitting on the floor at his feet. "Everyone will be notified if you take out your usual gear so Tasha put this together for you."

The outfit was very similar to his own but in a smaller size and there was also a black, army-style jacket with a hood. She changed quickly and he supplied her with a pistol and two knives, just in case, and with that she teleported them into the forest surrounding the facility.

. . .

The two had been crouched behind a collection of rocks for several minutes before Bucky announced the exterior of the facility was unprotected and allowed them to move forward. Mariana couldn't help the muttered "at last" that escaped under her breath as the ex-assassin asked her to bring them just inside the gates.

From there, Bucky insisted they move on foot to their entry point instead of teleporting, claiming to be killing two birds with one stone by teaching her _"a little thing called stealth."_

Mariana was highly unamused.

She thought he would have them sneak through a window or repel down an elevator shaft or something but apparently he had decided that the front door was the best option in this particular scenario. _Huge let-down buddy_.

Inside, the building appeared to be empty. The hallways were silent and all of the doors to different rooms were wide open. There were three floors altogether, two above ground and one below and Bucky insisted they clear every room before they even thought of looking for any information.

Mariana only recognised a few of the rooms and all were on the floor below ground. She stiffened up outside the room that had been her prison for almost a year and point-blank refused to enter the room in which she came into contact with Markus the most often.

Bucky didn't comment and didn't linger.

The facility was cleared and Mariana returned them to the computer station they had found along the way but Bucky remained on guard the entire time while she searched for anything salvageable.

"They've wiped everything, Bucky. There is nothing we can use here." She felt like hitting something in her frustration.

He shook his head. "Anything important is likely encrypted and hidden in other files." He inserted a small USB into a port and a download instantly began. It worked quickly and within seconds everything had been copied. "Stark may not like this 'ancient technology' but SI makes some very handy little gadgets."

"Jesus, Bucky. What the hell else did you steal?"

He mirrored her grin. "That's classified. Now, we should probably get out of here before HYDRA shows up."

"I'll admit, the place gives me the creeps but it's obviously abandoned Bucky."

"Except we tripped an alarm the second we turned on those computers." As if they heard him speak, there was the sudden sound of a jet landing very nearby and Mariana's eyes widened almost comically.

"Fuck, why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did."

"Not what I meant, Bucky! Ugh, let's just go." With that she grabbed his arm, snatched the USB out of the port and teleported them both back to her apartment in the tower.

Her apartment where Natasha was lounging on the couch studying her nails and Steve was standing with his arms crossed, glaring at the two of them. Bucky muttered something unpleasant and Russian-sounding under his breath and Mariana breathed what she assumed was the English equivalent.

"Fuck."

"Which one of you want to explain?"

There was a beat of silence before Mariana took a large step to her right and pointed at Bucky.

"Traitor."

"Sorry."

"Sit down. Both of you."

"Actually, you know, it's late. And I'm tired." Mariana made a show of yawning loudly. "I think the best idea is for us all to just sleep on it and talk in the morning."

Steve's expression didn't change, Bucky looked skyward and Natasha smirked. Mariana slowly lowered herself into the armchair.

"Or, y'know, not."

. . .

Turns out, the Captain-America-is-disappointed-in-you lecture wasn't even worth it as very little on the drive was usable. They did, however, gain the location of another base. A smaller one but that didn't exactly matter.

They learned nothing new about HYDRA's plans, if they were definitely working with AID, not even any basic schematics for any of the robots that had appeared so far. Mariana did get a kick-ass jacket out of the whole experience though, even if that wasn't compensation enough for the lack of information.

At this point, Mariana just hoped there were no more nasty surprises coming their way for a while. Maybe, life would cut them some slack. Maybe they could have a break. Maybe they could have some time to re-group and plan with what little information they had about HYDRA's plans. Maybe they could have some time to prepare.

Sam was still out of commission and would be for several more weeks.

Clint was still nursing his cracked ribs from the last robot attack.

Mariana still wasn't yet cleared for active field duty.

If Mariana was completely honest with, things did not look good.

And she still felt like something bad was coming their way.

She still felt like this was just the calm everyone always talked about.

 **. . .**

 **I totally think Bucky would be using his assassin skills to be a devious little shit like this though. It is my headcanon and you cannot take it from me.**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT!**

 **I'm not ready to let Mariana go. No Sir. So I'm wondering if there are any scenes you guys wish could have been in this fic? Anyone you want to see Mariana meet?**

 **Anyway, love you guys! :)**


	15. Chapter 15: the Storm

**The reviews I have been recieving since I started posting this fic have been absolutely phenomenal. I've done my best to reply to them all and personally thank each of you, but to the guests who have also left reviews I just want to say thank you.**

 **Every time a read one of your comments I'm so blown away by the support that I end up smiling like an idiot at my phone.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

 **. . .**

This. This was the storm.

This was the day that everything went to absolute shit in a craptastic tornado of epically destructive proportions. The day that nothing quite went their way. The day where no matter how hard they tried they couldn't seem to win. The day when no one quite wanted to admit their ever-present fear that the day would come where 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' just might not be enough.

This wasn't an alien invasion, or the crumbling of a top secret government organisation but everything went to shit so goddamn quickly that people thought that a time might have come when The Avengers themselves couldn't help but wonder if this time they were the ones needing saved.

. . .

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Don't bother, kid. If you hadn't noticed, Stevie's pretty stubborn in 'is decisions."

"Butt out Buckaroo."

Bucky held his hands up in surrender as he leant back against the wall, waiting for the others to emerge in their uniforms as well. Mariana was stood outside Steve's little 'cubicle' as she called them once. The two were practically yelling back and forth through the wall. At that exact moment though, the panel slid open with a hiss of air as Steve emerged in his Captain America gear.

"You're still not clear for the field Mariana and I can't just clear you on a whim because you think you are ready. You will stay in the tower and the most you will be involved in this will be watching video feeds and listening to the comms. Everyone suited up?"

There were several nods of agreement and the group – Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Clint – all started for the elevator with Mariana adamantly stomping along behind them.

"You saw that footage, Steve! There have to be hundreds of those things never mind the number of civilians we saw still in the area; in danger! Sam is still stuck here at the tower, Clint is still injured from a few days ago and you told Bruce to stay back as well because of the number of civilians. You guys _need_ me."

Steve groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face as they all stepped onto the elevator and started ascending.

"I have a bad feeling about this Steve," Mariana finally said quietly and when Steve met her eyes that time they were softer. He knew exactly what Clint had known in the training room; they trusted each other's instincts on things like this.

"I realise that, Mari. But you're still not coming into the field. If you're really worried then try and get in touch with that Daredevil fellow, ask him to head out with us. I know he claims he deals in Hell's Kitchen only but if we aren't careful this could very well spill into his territory fairly quickly."

The elevator opened up on the roof and The Avengers started towards the quinjet where Tony was waiting in his armour and Thor was swinging Mjolnir in circles by his side.

"Fine, I will," she called after them. "But I make no promises about staying put if you guys are in trouble." With that, Mariana herself was gone from the roof, only to appear in an apartment in Hell's Kitchen.

"Mari!"

"Hey Foggy, Karen. Matt, we might need your help." The lawyer tilted his head slightly. "More of HYDRA's weird robot-things in West Midtown. Cap's worried it might spill into the area if they can't contain it quickly."

Matt was already standing, disappearing into his room with long, purposeful strides. He could hear in her tone the second Mariana began speaking that something wasn't right.

"How bad?"

"It's pretty bad Matt," she explained from the living room, not bothering to shout as she slumped down between Foggy and Karen, leaning forward with her head in her hands. "They won't let me in the field but something doesn't feel right. HYDRA improved the bots the last time, still the same weakness but they were made of something stronger that made them a lot harder to beat. Now there's about as many as the first time with I don't know how many improvements.

"We're also down Hulk and Falcon and have no actual idea what HYDRA's plan is. We're assuming they've allied themselves with AID, a rogue batch of AIM or some shit. I don't know. I hate not knowing."

Karen knew it would take another minute or so for Matt to get suited up so she placed a hand on Mariana's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Take a minute. Talk to us. Now what is AID?"

The young woman blew out a small breath.

"I don't know much about them. Something that popped up while I was…away. Tony said something about an adaptoid thing they apparently created."

"The Super Adaptoid," Foggy cut in. "Mimics the powers and fighting style of anyone close enough. One of the only times I've been worried The Avengers might not make it out in one piece."

Mariana nodded. "I looked it up."

"Then why robots?" Mariana could picture Matt frowning and mirrored the expression.

"What?"

"If they have the know-how to make something like that adapty thing then why are they using second grade machinery now? You saw how easy those things were to take down."

"That…Holy shit, Matt. That's it!" suddenly she was on her feet, pacing nervously. "What if…what if the bots are a distraction? What if they have another trick up their sleeve but aren't confident they can use it with The Avengers' sole focus on that one display. Think about it. I saw the footage of the Adaptoid fight and it was real patchy in the beginning but after a bit the others had it down. Because their sole focus was on the Adaptoid alone."

Matt emerged from his room in his full gear, minus cowl, looking troubled. "You think AID and HYDRA might break out the Adaptoid again?"

Mariana shrugged. "With the bots taking up most of their attention it could actually work this time. And The Avengers are there without The Hulk, The Falcon and…me. Shit! Rumlow was a fucking plant! They knew I would confront him and they knew my abilities weren't gonna be playing ball."

"They wanted you out of the field too."

"It's my responsibility to get civilians out of the way. Without me they get the most casualties. The most chaos. Dammit! They're too smart!"

"Well you need to tell the others!" Foggy exclaimed.

"Go," Karen added. "And for God's sake be careful."

. . .

Screw what the good Captain wanted.

Mariana had given Daredevil a comm device and brought him to a rooftop in the middle of the fight like the last time so he could get a sense of the area before diving into the fray. Except this time the battle was in full force as The Avengers had arrived before them. Mariana almost missed Daredevil's carefully concealed wince at the sudden bout of screaming and metal on metal and shouting and rapid gunfire.

She took one look at the scene below and decided right there and then that whatever lecture Steve could concoct after this was over would have to be worth it because she was not leaving.

If the screaming and crying wasn't persuasive enough then the sight of parents covering their children as they cowered behind cars or the sight of people shielding their loved ones as they tried to run across the battlefield to safety was. Or the sight of one mother desperately wrenching her infant from their stroller to hold them close as a bot advanced on them menacingly.

None of The Avengers were close enough.

Daredevil didn't have to say anything to Mariana before they were in the street, him running instantly to intercept the shiny metal death contraption while she sprinted towards the parent and child. The brief expression of relief on the mother's expression as she recognised the youngest Avenger even without her uniform twisted into one of nausea as they appeared in an old church hall several miles from the fight.

Mariana didn't stick around to explain before she was back on the battlefield. She ignored the fighting Avengers in favour of focussing on the civilians still in danger.

She had no uniform, no comm and no weapons bar the switchblade Bucky and Nat were both adamant she carried on her at all times. Not much use against a robot, but this wasn't Quantum fighting alongside her team of superheroes. This was Mariana Hadley, just trying to keep people safe, not fight a war.

It was possibly the fastest she'd ever moved as she brought everyone to that same church hall with the mother and infant, noticing they were still there – thank God. Maybe it was time to start looking into this religious thing Matt had going.

Not now though.

No.

Now there was a kid trapped under some rubble she wasn't going to stop to question the origin of.

There were two sobbing teenage girls, no older than sixteen, trying to help the kid when Mariana skidded to a stop by their side. It quickly became obvious neither actually knew the kid from when she asked his name and they shrugged in response. There was a man laying just feet away, quite obviously dead, crushed under another section of rubble. With the way the child – no older than seven – was reaching toward him and crying she could only assume he was the poor child's dad.

"Sweetie, Sweetheart look at me." Mariana shifted to get into his line of sight and at the same time block the view of the corpse. At the same time, she gestured for the girls to stay put. She could get them all out of here if they didn't run off. "That's it. Now, I'm going to get you out, okay? All you have to do is hold onto my hand. Can you do that for me? Just hold my hand."

It took a few seconds of coaxing but the second he took her hand, Mariana's other hand snapped out to take hold of one of the teenagers' arm, thankful they were hugging each other close, and teleported them all to the church hall with a final "Take care of him," before vanishing.

Back to the warzone that had become West Midtown.

She wasn't quite sure how long it had been since she had arrived with Daredevil in tow, though it felt like it had quite possibly been close to half an hour, but apparently she had been extremely efficient in her activities as she couldn't spot any civilians in the immediate area. She started jogging along to where the most of the robots seemed to have conjugated, where all of the Avengers appeared to be defending a relatively small circle of space compared to the entirety of the neighbourhood. Every single one of them looked a little worse for wear but in relatively good condition in comparison to some of their other fights.

This was only confirming her previous theory: the bots were a distraction.

Cap threw his shield so that it bounced off of one bot and took out another before clattering to the ground while the soldier took to using his fists against the closest one to him. They were back to the dog-like bots but they seemed to be made of a reinforced material like the humanoid ones had been. She snatched up the shield and returned it, falling in behind the fighting super-soldier as she had no real weapon against the bots.

"Mari! Get out of here!"

"I had to get the civilians out Cap! But I need to tell you. I think these guys are just a distraction."

"On Earth do you mean Kid?" Iron Man's robotic voice came from above as he flew by. She assumed Captain America's comm was picking up her voice. Good.

"It'd take too long to explain but think about it! If HYDRA and AID or whatever wanted the most damage, the most casualties, then these assholes would be running amuck all over the damn place! Instead, they're backing you all into the corner. Sure, you can still take 'em out pretty easy but it's taking time."

The Captain seemed to listen to someone else on the comm as he launched a decapitated bot to the side and moved on before assumedly repeating it for her benefit. "Maybe it's just about taking us out then, not the casualties."

She snorted and ducked under an explosive arrow on his warning.

"Then why do we still know their weak point?" As though to emphasise her point, she teleported to collect the shield again and appeared behind one of the bots advancing on the Captain's left, slamming it down on the back on the thing's neck to disable it immediately and handing back the shield, re-taking her place behind him.

Steve seemed to be about to say something before stopping, pointing urgently to the top of one of the buildings. "Get Hawkeye out of here."

She didn't hesitate or question the order and was immediately on the roof, pulling a fairly battered archer back onto the roof from where he was dangling and slamming her foot into a bot to send it over the very same edge. She brought him straight to medical where Bruce and another doctor where waiting for someone to return injured.

Clint looked, to put it lightly, like shit.

His uniform was practically in tatters, he seemed to have injured his arm further, his eyes were glazed as though he had a concussion which explained the trickle of blood flowing down the left side of his face. He was covered in multiple other scratches and what looked like a bite on his right thigh.

She was gone almost before Clint's groan of "Be careful!"

She hadn't expected so much to have changed in the few seconds it had taken to get Clint settled on a gurney.

There were three new machines on the field now, in the centre of the circle-esque area that the remaining Avengers were defending, forcing a battle on two fronts while the hound-bots appeared to get even more vicious, snapping and growling at the heroes.

The new machines though, she recognised. Adaptoids. And they looked improved.

Just as she realised this – and also recognised that getting close to them was a very bad idea – all of their forms shifted until they each had a very obvious Winter-Soldier-replica metal arm holding onto a red, white and blue shield and a replica of Mjolnir in the other hand. She considered for a second the whole 'worthy' thing but quickly realised that the Adaptoid could also copy powers. Thankfully she realised that just in time to teleport Black Widow away from a bolt of lightning.

There were very few hound-bot-things left and Iron Man was easily taking care of most from the sky so the others could focus on the Adaptoids in the centre. Mariana was extremely glad she had grabbed Clint's comm and quickly slipped it on, informing the others of her presence.

As predicted, she was ordered to stay far away from the Adaptoids as everyone recognised the dangers of one of them adapting to her particular abilities. They could slip away and cause trouble elsewhere. Iron Man was also keeping his distance as it seems they hadn't yet copied his machinery.

There was an agonising scream from somewhere off to the right and Mariana's heart clenched painfully at the sight of one of the Adaptoids quite obviously using some super soldier strength to physically - and painfully slowly - rip The Winter Soldier's metal arm from the rest of his body.

Mariana's hands flew to her mouth to smother the scream trying to burst from her throat as she watched Bucky buckle under the pain, dropping to his knees, still screaming and writhing in agony as the nerve ending were ripped apart. Somewhere close by she registered Daredevil doubling his efforts in order to fight off the nearby hound bots to stop them getting close enough to deal a killing strike to the downed soldier.

Only when the arm was completely removed, dangling uselessly from the metal hand of the Adaptoid towering over her big brother did the man stop screaming and pull out a gun, firing round after round at the machine that merely stumbled back and advanced again.

"Steve," she choked into the comm.

She could hear the absolute devastation in his voice as he reminded her that she couldn't get Bucky out without giving the Adaptoid the opportunity to adapt to her powers. She could see the normally cold demeanour of the Winter Soldier seem to shift as he emptied the last magazine at the Adaptoid that merely began floating in the air by the Iron Man-esque boots it now seemed to be wearing.

Shit.

"Iron Man got too close," she heard Bucky's strained voice over the comm, sounding like he was going to pass out from pain any moment and was only fighting to stay awake to deliver this one message.

But the Adaptoid continued its flight past the soldier and Mariana noticed it's robotic head without a face was tilted toward her.

It flew faster.

Straight for her.

"Uh, guys? Problem." With that, she teleported a few feet away. She didn't want to leave the scene, leave the others on their own. She needed to stick around and find a way to get Bucky out of there before he got killed. To make sure none of the others got killed.

She hadn't noticed the fourth Adaptoid on the scene until it wrapped its cold metal arms around her torso and teleported her away just as she started to scream.

Over the comm she heard the others shouting to know what happened, where she was, if she was still fucking _alive._

The device was ripped from her ear and dropped to the floor only to be crushed beneath a metal foot before she could respond.

"Son of a- Let me go!"

She tried to struggle against the metal grip on her but obviously some super soldier strength was going into this hold as it was impossible to break free. She tried to teleport away but the Adaptoid kept teleporting her back until she realised it was useless to fight and instead decided to glare at her surroundings.

It was that goddamn HYDRA facility. The computer banks she and Bucky had raided just a couple of days previously to be exact.

Fucking hell.

"I was told you might find these surroundings familiar." The voice came from her right and Mariana's head snapped round to study the man in front of her. He wore beige slacks and a grey button-up shirt with a black tie and a white lab coat over the top. He wore loafers on his feet and round spectacles balanced precariously on his frankly quite frighteningly small nose.

He was the very picture of an unassuming scientist.

Mariana fought the urge to snarl at him like one of those damn dogs. "If you were going for 'comforting' then you sadly missed. By several miles."

He chuckled and walked towards her and her 'companion'. "Yes. But then, I suppose comfort wasn't the intention. Quite the opposite I believe in fact." He seemed to be studying her intently, eyes raking up and down her figure before settling on her face with a smile that made her stomach clench uneasily. His eyes may not have lingered creepily anywhere on her but just one look in his eyes and she knew he was more dangerous than the picture he at first presented.

"You the one behind this lot then?" She nodded her head backwards toward the Adaptoid still holding her firmly in place. She kept her gaze cold and focussed intently on him, no matter how sick his eyes made her feel.

"Ah, my greatest creations." He reached forward and stroked the cold metal arm of the machine holding her. The arm that held her own arms in place in an iron-clad grip. The act was done almost lovingly. "I built them from scratch, you know. That HYDRA goon helped with a few finishing touches of course, but, in the end they are truly my best work."

A strange sound was emitted by the machine as the grip shifted and she sensed the thing's head tilt behind her.

"Are you in a fucking relationship with your robot?" she shouted incredulously with a hint of disgust behind the words. A glare was turned on her instantly and the Adaptoid's grip tightened considerably. "That is sick stuff, mate."

The grip tightened a fraction more as the glare became more heated and two hound-dog-bot-things that had sat silently in the corner until now began making what could only be described as a growling noise as they advanced towards her. Mariana's eyebrows rose.

"You're controlling them. They react to you, right? Your thoughts. Your wish is my command type thing, yeah? I'm right, aren't I? So what is it, some kind of transmitter attached to some kind of nerve system in your brain or some shit like that?"

Suddenly, the promise of death was gone from his eyes and the bots backed up into the corner again as the Adaptoid's grip loosened slightly.

"I told him I had no idea why he so adamantly wanted you, of all of them, to be left alive. I still have no idea. You certainly are a mouthy, disobedient little brat, aren't you? Hmm? Now you sit tight and keep your mouth shut while I ensure the death of all your ' _super'_ little friends, huh?"

"You son of a-"

He slapped her. Hard.

"Quiet!" He turned abruptly and strode over to the console of different screens and began tapping things seemingly randomly. Mariana decided that staying quiet to appease the madman was the best option at that moment and returned to trying to think her way out of this situation.

According to the clock in her head it was about four minutes before the door opened again and three people entered. The first two were obviously HYDRA, the emblem stamped on the shoulder of their all black combat gear. They both looked like weightlifter types. Broad shoulders and huge fucking muscles. She made a note to avoid engaging either of them in hand-to-hand as she would more than likely lose that battle.

The third person, well, the third she recognised.

The third person to step into the room had Mariana's breath catching in her throat as her heart stuttered like a nervous pre-teen on stage and sweat began beading down her forehead.

The third person to step into the room had Mariana flinching and cowered back against the firm presence of that damned Adaptoid preventing her from teleporting herself to the other side of the fucking planet.

The third person to walk into the room was _fucking Markus._

 **. . .**

 **Whoops?**


	16. Chapter 16: The Shitstorm

**Anonymous...I am sorry.**

 **Just a note: I'm not a huge comic reader - very much an MCU girl - but from what I understand the Adaptoid is more of a suit (?) in the comics. for the sake of this AU I've designed them similar to a machine rather than a suit, similar an Avengers cartoon I saw once.**

 **So this is a little shorter because originally this was one scene in a larger chapter but then it spiralled out of control so I split the chapter into two and briefly brought in a familiar face. Enjoy!**

 **. . .**

The worst part wasn't the fighting.

It wasn't the punches being landed with enough super-soldier force to do some serious damage if they weren't careful. It wasn't having their own abilities and tech turned against them. It wasn't having to drag their fallen teammate off the battlefield to relative safety because at least they knew Bucky was still _alive._

No.

The worst part was the not knowing. Not knowing if Mariana was still alive. And if she _was_ alive then it became about not knowing _where_ she was. It was not knowing if she was hurt, or scared or any number of things. It was not knowing if they could do this without her.

It was not knowing if they would ever see their little sister again.

. . .

This was bad.

This was a bad bad bad situation.

Matt knew that had Mariana still been present she would have called it something along the lines of a 'clusterfuck of mass proportions' and at this point he couldn't help but to agree with the sentiment. He could almost hear her laughing at herself in his head and dispelled that thought as soon as it occurred to him by disabling another hound while ducking the swing of the Adaptoid on his and Steve's tail.

Steve was both intensely worried about their little sister and constantly aware of Bucky's breathing that he could just barely hear with his enhanced senses and that was only because the ex-assassin seemed to be breathing quite harshly.

It had taken a team up by every single one of them before they had been able to take out just one of the three remaining Adaptoids with no idea where the fourth that had taken Mariana had gone, only able to assume it was still with her which indicated that she was indeed alive.

Thankfully, none of the others seemed to have gotten close enough to copy Mariana's ability so The Avengers didn't have to worry about them suddenly disappearing on them.

They did, however, have to worry about the one who had been able to replicate Iron Man's repulsor technology and was firing sporadically at all of the heroes, causing them to have to be constantly on the move and aware. Tony himself was very frustrated as he flew in circles above the fight, trying to avoid the lightning strikes been sent by the second Adaptoid that was fighting off a valiant attack by their own lightning God.

To the untrained eye, Natasha seemed to be handling herself extremely well against the remaining bots in her area while gracefully avoiding stray strikes from both Adaptoids on the battlefield. To a more skilled eye however, the beads of sweat trailing down her forehead and the twisted snarl of her lips told a tale of her struggle.

To be quite honest, all of them were struggling. Matt and Natasha had dedicated themselves to finishing off the few remaining bots in the area while the others – as they were heavier hitters – focussed on the Adaptoids. Great in theory, but many of the Adaptoids' attacks slipped through and were aimed at the two as they fought on.

And all of them were pretty banged up. Tony had gotten too close to own of the Adaptoids at one point and found himself being held in a two-handed metallic super soldier grip that had somewhat crushed his armour. It had taken a lot of very creative thinking to escape and when he did escape he was distracted enough to allow a bolt of lightning to hit a little too close to home for his liking.

Steve's cowl was long gone and the sweat and grime was clearly visible on his face as he threw he shield repeatedly, trying to find some kind of in on the Adaptoids while he pulled some gymnastics moves that would have dropped Mariana's jaw and earned him a light-hearted comment about old men not being that flexible. His movements also suggested various other injuries, possibly broken ribs from when he was sent hurtling into a building. Never mind the fact that he seemed to be tiring – if only slightly – and that certainly said something with his super stamina.

Thor, while he wasn't tiring like Steve, was growing increasingly frustrated and reckless, often trying to get closer to one of the Adaptoids to land a strike with his hammer and ending up soaring in the opposite direction not much later.

So, yeah, they were struggling - if only a little – to take out the remaining two Adaptoids.

And then a few things happened all at once.

Tony didn't quite dodge the lightning strike in time and was sent tumbling into the bodies of Thor and his adversary.

Thor and Tony tumbled and skid across the asphalt.

The Adaptoid quickly copied the repulsor technology and refocused its attention on Natasha.

Nat noticed just in time to twist so that the repulsor blast grazed her instead of hitting her head-on but it still sent her sprawling and caused a spike of pain.

Steve became distracted by this unfolding of events and received a strong backhand that sent him somersaulting through the air and crashing back to the ground.

Matt finished off the last bot in the area and turned his attention to the Adaptoid only for a cold metal hand to be wrapped around his throat, lifting him off the ground and choking him.

 _This is worse._ He thought. _This is much much worse._

Matt planted his feet on the chest of the Adaptoid to give himself some leverage as he struggled against the grip but he knew that with the Adaptoid having Captain America's strength he would not be able to get out of this one. He may have had no real sight to say he was seeing black spots at the edges of his vision but he could certainly feel his surroundings fading as his other senses began to overwhelm him.

But then he caught a new heartbeat relatively close to the scene and fast approaching. It was a strong heartbeat - like Steve's – but a young one – like Mariana's. He knew Steve was back on his feet and running over to help but it wasn't the super soldier that knocked the Adaptoid to the ground with so much force that Matt himself was released and dropped to roll along the ground, gasping in air and refocussing his senses.

Steve slowed to a stop beside Daredevil's collapsed form and helped the man to his feet absentmindedly as he observed the new player on the scene. Across the street, Natasha was leaning against a building, clutching at her injured side as she panted heavily and also watched the scene unfold with interest. Tony was stuck in the Iron Man suit while JARVIS finished re-booting and Thor was just as engrossed in watching the new fighter.

What was happening was a red and blue blur was moving incredibly quickly in circles around one Adaptoid, landing various kicks and punches that appeared to have a lot of force behind them before darting away to avoid retaliation. All the while he was spurting utter nonsense - to himself or the damn machine none of them were sure.

The Adaptoid took a swing at him and they all heard a very loud, very un-manly squeal as a solid metal fist connected with the body of whom they now recognised as Spider-Man. He redeemed himself by recovering quick enough to allow the momentum to bring him that much closer to the second Adaptoid that had been advancing on a downed Iron Man and Thor. He shot out some of his famous web fluid and began circling this second machine from much further a distance. Regardless, it was an effective technique as the Adaptoid's movements were quickly being restricted and it seemed unable to be struggling to break free of the webbing trapping its arms.

"HA!" Spider-man shouted as he perched perfectly balanced on the stumbling Adaptoid's shoulder. "Struggle all you want buddy but not even _I_ can get out of these babies until they start dissolving in…hmm, about an hour. And trust me: _that_ has been the cause of a great many problems I've faced in this vigilante biz."

While Spider-Man continued his cocky victory nonsense, the Adaptoid shifted abruptly, shaking the spider off it's shoulder and sending him tumbling to the ground as the machine proceeded to try to stomp on him. Even as he dodged the size 11 metal boots coming at his face, Spider-Man did receive a few blows to the ribs to which he complained rather loudly and almost in a _whining_ tone. That was right before he shot a string of web at the descending boot and another at a lamppost nearby, pulling himself out of the way as he yanked on the web attacked to the boot, effectively pulling the Adaptoid's feet out from under it.

"Web its feet!" Steve finally found his voice from where he fought to hold back the first Adaptoid which was attempting to rush Spider-Man while he was distracted. Thor was also coming to his teammate's aid as Tony's suit finally booted up again and Matt grappled to his feet, stumbling toward Natasha where she was calling him out of the firing line. The two were good fighters but she could already see they would only get in the way here.

There was a whoosh of air behind Steve as he ducked under the Adaptoid's swing of Mjolnir, followed by a quick "Aye aye Captain," that had him almost rolling his eyes at the reference he still didn't get.

It was only moments later that Tony was blasting his repulsor at the Adaptoid while Thor smashed Mjolnir into it and Steve brought his shield down onto its shoulder joint repeatedly. They made quick work of disabling that one just like they had the first before Steve thought to ask Spider-Man to web up the two disabled machines just like the other one that still struggled with its bonds several feet away.

Without being distracted by weird dog-bots and being able to focus on this one adversary, it felt like and probably was only seconds until it was on the ground beside its friend, wrapped in Spider-man's webs.

"So," the web-slinger started as the he finally met up with Steve, Thor, Tony – out of the Iron Man suit – Natasha, Daredevil and a still unconscious Bucky. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner; traffic was a nightmare."

"We're just glad you showed up at all, Spider-man. Not quite sure how we would have detained all of them," Steve said as he checked on Bucky. "Thank you."

Spider-man was silent for only a fraction of a second. Then he was doing a back flip and fist-pumping the air. "Hell yeah!" Everyone was staring at him. "Sorry, just, Captain America."

Tony shook his head almost fondly before sobering quickly. "JARVIS, find her."

"The last location recorded by the tracking device suggests Miss Hadley is at the HYDRA base that she and Mr Barnes infiltrated only days ago." The only reason Spider-man picked up on the message sent through The Avengers' comms was his slightly enhanced hearing.

"J, set a course." Stark was already heading towards the abandoned Iron Man armour.

"Sir, the suit in its current state will not last the journey. I would suggest you return to the tower and I will prepare a second suit for you. The jet will also need refuelled if the other Avengers wish to join you."

Tony groaned and scrubbed a hand through his hair while Steve nodded and hoisted Bucky up into a fire-man's carry. "JARVIS, is the tracker still transmitting?" There was a pause before the AI confirmed that it was indeed still transmitting. "Okay, Thor, reckon you can make the flight if JARVIS directs you? The rest of us can head to the jet and regroup at the tower. Thanks again for your help Spider-man. Someone will be by soon to clean all of this up. Daredevil, you coming?"

The man in red nodded and began jogging to catch up with the others who were already heading for the quinjet. Except Thor who had left the second Steve had suggested it at all.

"Woah, wait. Is Quantum in danger? I'll coming with you, I might be able to help out."

Steve shook his head. "You should stay here, son. We appreciate everything you've done but we can handle this. Besides, this attack is sure to have spurred plenty of other opportunistic petty criminals in the neighbourhood and someone has to stay back and fight for the little guy." With that, he began to make his own way to the quinjet with the unconscious Bucky in tow.

Spider-man stood silently for a few seconds and then he sighed just before his cell phone began ringing. He fished it out of his pocket and answered. "MJ, I think Captain America – in the least patronising way possible - just put me on clean-up duty. _Clean-up duty._ "

. . .

JARVIS was giving Thor directions to Mariana's location through the same earpiece that he had been wearing during the fight even before the lot of them had made it to the jet. Everyone knew that by the time they got back to the tower, re-fuelled the jet and swapped out Tony's suit Thor could have reached her already.

They also knew that he would fight tooth and nail to protect her should Mariana happen to need it.

So the others returned to the tower, as content as they could be with several injured and one missing. Again.

Natasha flew the quinjet, Steve stayed by Bucky's side where he lay flat out on the gurney they always kept on board while Tony tried to distract himself by attempting to get Daredevil to take off his mask. Matt divided his time between bantering with Tony for the sake of the man's sanity, assuring Steve his friend was still alive even if he did look dead and listening to Natasha humming a soothing tune up front.

JARVIS kept them updated on Thor's progress when requested – which was very regularly - and they soon arrived on the tower's helipad.

Only once Bucky was settled – in the same room as Clint not only so that they could all talk once he was awake enough for it but also so that they could all be together – and being checked over did everyone's worry really show. It could be seen in the tense set of their shoulders, the sickly pallor of Doctor Banner, the constant twitching of Clint's fingers, Sam's fiddling with his crutches and Tony's uncanny silence. Even when Pepper came in she just took one look at them all and sought comfort in an embrace with her boyfriend.

In the end, it was a relatively groggy but welcome voice that broke at least a little of the tension.

"I swear I'm gonna nail that kid to the damn wall if she keeps disappearin' on us."

"Bucky," Steve breathed in relief. "How do you feel?"

"I dunno what they gave me Stevie, but I don't feel a thing. Now come on, she 'n' Thor are the only ones missin', where's she at?"

"They have you hopped up on some drug they've been waiting to try on Steve for months. Glad it works. Oh, and I've got a prototype in the lab you can try out whenever you're up for it."

Bucky nodded absently then narrowed his eyes. "Somebody answer the question and the hell is the big guy?"

"Thor is currently retrieving Mariana from the HYDRA facility she was taken to."

Everyone perked up at JARVIS' statement.

"Has he found her?" Clint asked desperately.

There was a pause.

"He is coming up on her location now."

. . .

The medical staff had all but barricaded the entire Avengers team into that room soon after they had checked up on Bucky and Clint, happy to leave Bruce in charge unless there were any complication with they didn't anticipate. The only disagreement with this arrangement that the team had was being confined to one room where they were all left to their own dark thoughts after JARVIS' latest and relatively vague update.

It was close to twenty-one minutes later – they knew because they had all been counting the seconds down – when the door opened again. Since JARVIS had informed them all that Thor and Mariana had finally arrived at the tower every one of them bar Clint, Bucky and Sam were on their feet and watching the door.

They watched as two nurses shoved Thor backwards into the room rather gently, or at least he wasn't putting up much of a fight.

Questions were flying instantly as the team stumbled over each other to find out what was going on and _dammit Thor where is she?_ But everyone shut up immediately when the Norse God turned to look at them with the most devastated expression they had ever seen on the man's face.

That paired with the large patch of blood soaking his armour where he was quite obviously _not_ injured did not paint such a great picture.

"I do not believe this to be good," was all he could offer them.

 **. . .**

 **Mariana will return. In two days.**

 **Personal note: Pray for us, our country is fucked.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Shitstorm Pt 2

**This is the longest chapter of the story. I enjoyed writing it.**

 **WARNING: Graphic depictions of violence ahead!**

 **So...yeah...beware?**

 **. . .**

Mariana refused to roll over.

She may have been scared – God, she was scared out of her mind – because almost a year of psychological and physical torture at the hands of one slightly unstable man will have that effect on you when faced with your tormenter. She was scared for the others as well because that sciency guy still seemed to be controlling the bots and Adaptoids which means the others were still fighting and was Bucky okay?

Were any of them?

But she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to play ball. She never had before, not with him, so why the hell should she start now?

. . .

Mariana spent all of five seconds cowering away from Markus' cold gaze before steeling herself and straightening her stance as much as possible, trying to muster up the defiant glare she had pinned the scientist with only moments before but the defiance seemed to have abandoned her the moment she laid eyes on her old tormenter.

So she wasn't quite sure that it worked.

Looks like she would have to summon up some of that reckless idiocy she was used to shielding herself with then.

Markus gave a dark chuckle and spoke slowly. "Ah, Mariana. Always so strong-willed. Tell me, do you ever stop fighting the inevitable? Come on, we both knew we would see each other again, you could only lie to yourself about that for so long. Could only deny the truth for so long. You're a reasonable girl; it's one of your lesser qualities." He was only a few feet in front of her.

"You did all of this for me? Oh Markus, you shouldn't have. Really. I do not appreciate it."

He laughed. "No, Darling, unfortunately this wasn't _all_ for you. We do have goals in mind and you aren't _that_ important in the grand scheme of things."

"Goals? I do hope this is the part where you get cocky and spill HYDRA's big bad plans for the world, that has always been my favourite part of the action movies. Usually comes right before the villain gets his ass kicked which is always highly entertaining."

Markus shook his head slowly. "I don't think so. I will, however, state what I assume you already know. You're a clever girl so I'm sure you're aware that we want The Avengers out of the way. Permanently. You see, they keep stopping us, getting in our way, sticking their noses in where they don't belong. Now, we've been trying for quite some time - as I'm sure you're beginning to realise – and we've found some very interesting results.

"The Avengers, like everyone else, are quite easily distracted. It was delightful to discover even this retched world's heroes aren't perfect. You see, we – and I would like to say I but credit where it's due – have found that when there are a large number of civilians in the area or _The Avengers_ have to fight off more than one force at once are when they come the closest to defeat. You catching on?" He tilted his head and stepped closer. His tone was more than just condescending and he spat the word _Avengers_ like a curse.

Mariana swallowed thickly. "You tried to recreate both conditions today. I was right, Rumlow was a plant. Wasn't he?" Markus grinned wide as her words became soaked in venom. "You knew I would recognise him and you knew I wouldn't just let him walk away! Whether I beat him or not, not only would I be injured afterwards but he dropped a pretty little golden nugget of information, right? Side effects. No fucking way Cap'd let me into the field if there was even a _possibility_ that I couldn't rely on my abilities. _Fucking hell_ did you even know there would be any side effects?" She was practically screaming by the end, struggling uselessly against the Adaptoid's grip on her.

Markus smirked and gave a one-shouldered shrug. "It was a possibility."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Now what would the good Captain say, Mariana?"

"I like to think he'd say the exact fucking same!"

"You're always so easy to get riled up. I do so like that about you. Did I mention how much I have missed our conversations?" He was standing just in front of her, so close she could smell the peppermint toothpaste he used. Mariana shivered as he studied her face, his eyes darkening for just a fraction of a second before he smiled pleasantly. "Back to business. Scientist?"

There was a put-upon sigh from behind Markus but the dark haired man didn't turn away from Mariana for even a second.

"I will remind you again, Agent, that my name is Dr Philips."

"Well then, Dr Philips, tell me: how exactly are these Adaptoids of yours controlled again? For the benefit of our guest here of course."

"Of course." He sighed again, sounding like an exasperated parent, but stayed focused on his monitors. "In that case, I guess I will simplify the scientific explanation that will no doubt be too much for her little mind to comprehend. Essentially, you were right little girl, I do have some form of mental control over my creations stemming from this device." He turned his head to the side and she could just see a small black dot on the side of his neck.

"It looks like a melanoma." Mariana's brain-to-mouth filter failed her often but it was at times like this when she wondered if she even had one.

The scientist, Dr Philips, finally turned to glare at her before putting his back to them all again. "Well, it's not."

She raised an eyebrow and peered over Markus' shoulder at the older man. "Are you sure? Like…have you had yourself checked? I would."

"It is a scientific device not a skin abnormality and this is irrelevant. The secondary controls are right here." He gestured to the console he stood beside.

"Huh, and here I thought you were checking your e-mails."

Markus smirked.

The doctor sighed. "She is quite a mouthy brat, isn't she?"

"That she is," Markus replied as he turned to watch the doctor's back as he worked. "Daniels." One of the other two goons that had entered with Markus approached the console and watched over Dr Philips' shoulder for a moment before nodding and taking a single step back.

Markus shot the doctor in the back of the head.

Mariana shouted in surprise and jumped at the bang of the shot being fired. Recent training with a certain dark-haired assassin however allowed her to recover quickly.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" She ignored the fact that 'Daniels' immediately took control of the station.

Markus whirled to face her, shoving the pistol back into the holster at his hip and wrapping the same hand into the hair at the back of Mariana's head as he got far too close to her. "Because," he snarled, "no one is allowed to lay a hand on you without my say so, clear?"

Mariana tried not to wince as he tugged at her hair and instead glared at him with all of the heat she could muster. He only laughed at her.

She realised too late that she had lost focus on her surroundings.

But by that point Mariana was crying out in pain as already she could feel the electricity rolling through her in waves as Markus released her and took a step back. Behind her, the Adaptoid did the same and she collapsed to a heap on the floor.

"Still hurts like a bitch?"

The smug tone of Markus' voice was all the motivation she needed to shakily get to her feet, left hand holding her side where the blast of energy had been fired at her. She was really getting sick of those weapons.

"You could say that," she seethed.

They locked eyes for several moments: his sparkling with false confidence and challenge and hers cycling through feelings of surprise and uncertainty with undertones of fury and determination.

Markus had taken a hell of a chance.

They both knew it.

Those blasts didn't have as much of an effect on her as they had. It may have hurt like hell but she could feel her abilities buzzing under her skin. She could go. She could just _leave_. The Adaptoid had let her go and it couldn't possibly move fast enough to grab her before she left. _She could get away_.

But they both knew she wouldn't.

And it infuriated her that Markus could read her so well.

 _First_ : she now knew that that control panel was potentially her only chance of disabling all of the Adaptoids and the robot dogs as The Avengers obviously hadn't done so yet if Daniels' frantic tapping was anything to go by.

 _Second:_ this was personal. This thing between the two of them. Markus had tormented her, tortured her, abused her – for _fun_. So, yeah. Personal. He didn't use any special powers to tear her to pieces, didn't have some impressive ability to help him break her every single day, didn't have some fancy powers to help him haunt her every second of every day since.

Mariana wanted to repay the favour.

She had to fight not to smirk the second that her plan occurred to her. Her stupidly reckless, will-probably-get-her-killed plan.

From the flicker of uncertainty in the Psychopath's own eye she assumed she must have shown some outward change in attitude.

Then her opportunity presented itself.

May as well have been tied with a bow it was such perfect timing.

"Sir," Markus spun to face Daniels. The terrified look in his eyes looked extremely out of place on a man of his stature, so much so that it was almost laughable. "The, uh, The Avengers have won, Sir. The three Adaptoids have been…detained."

Mariana beat Markus to the gun by a fraction of a second.

Her hand shot out before Daniels had even finished speaking as she snatched the gun from the holster on Markus' hip.

The first shot was fired down at Markus' left leg. He cried out in pain and crumbled to the floor at her feet.

The second shot was fired similarly at the remaining HYDRA goon stood in the corner by the door as she began running forward.

The third shot met its mark in Daniels' arm as he advanced towards her, intercepting her path to the computer banks. He hissed in pain but still swung for her. Ducked under the swing she fired a single shot down into his right foot before continuing forward to the screens. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the scientist had a big red button on a holographic screen like one of Tony's that just said 'disable'.

Really, she should seriously consider this religion stuff at this point. Some deity was obviously on her side lately.

She tapped the image of the button once just as the Adaptoid behind her was finally reacting to her movements and had teleported beside her. It powered down almost instantly but she had no more time for 'thank you' prayers as she was grabbed from behind again in an imitation of the Adaptoid's previous hold on her.

Natasha's voice in her head talked her through manoeuvring out of the hold instantly and she just followed the directions as she always did.

 _Most men will be taller than you, that's just a fact of your life. Use it against them._

Judging by the goon's height, she was in the perfect position to smash his nose by throwing her head backwards. So that's what she did. The grip loosened just enough for Mariana to pry the fingers of his right hand away from her left arm. At the same time, she recognised that this was the goon who stood by the door previously from the tattoo on his arm so she kicked down on his right leg where she knew she'd shot him.

He let her go immediately and she turned on him. She let the gun drop to the ground before linking her fingers behind his head and slamming his head down onto her knee before shoving his deadweight aside, snatching up the gun again and focussing on Daniels who was back on his own feet.

Daniels was pissed. He was also smart as his first move was to disarm her. She saw it coming just in time to release the magazine and render the gun useless as Bucky had taught her to.

 _If you can't use it, don't let them._

The gun clattered to the floor and she wasn't able to dodge the punch to her gut that knocked the air out of her.

The one aiming for her face right after however, she was able to duck under.

As she did, she stamped down on his wounded foot and aimed a jab at his throat, cutting off his shout of pain. She didn't put enough force behind it to kill him, just stun him enough so that she could hook her right arm under his left armpit and her left arm over his right to create a pummel clinch that Steve – surprisingly - had insisted she know.

 _Most opponents might be bigger than you but that doesn't mean you can't take them down._

Once she was in position she was able to stamp down on his right foot with her left again before he could react. He reacted instinctively, the way she had hoped, and stepped back with his right foot to avoid another stamp. In response she brought her left knee up to slam into his stomach. Again, his response was instinctive when he stepped back in with his right foot while leaning his midsection away from her as best he could to prevent another knee attack like that. But while he corrected his footing, Mariana was cracking her elbow into the side of his head before releasing her hold on him and letting him drop.

She was glad to have had the opportunity to practice most of the fighting techniques she had been taught by Steve to know what it was like to fight a larger opponent. They were hella effective.

There was an audible click of a gun being cocked and she looked up into the barrel of a gun that Markus was pointing at her head.

Raising her hands in a submissive gesture, Mariana tried to sound confident when she spoke.

"You won't shoot me."

"After all of the trouble you've caused? What makes you think that?"

Mariana swallowed. "Because for some sick reason you like watching me suffer and shooting me in the head doesn't satisfy that desire."

The gun lowered and he shot at her leg. She'd recognised the intent in his eyes and had moved to dodge the bullet but it still grazed her right calf causing a burst of pain to spike through the leg and she dropped onto one knee, clutching at the wound.

 _Okay,_ she thought, _you just won't shoot to kill._

But he did drop the gun, allowing it to clatter to the concrete floor as he took a few menacing steps towards her, intent on inflicting any damage from here on out up close and personal. He may have been a weapons expert but she knew he could more than handle himself well in close quarters too.

Mariana struggled to her feet just in time for him to grab her by the shoulders to steady himself and bring up his left knee twice in quick succession. Both connected with her stomach and had her gasping for breath. Markus seemed to be studiously ignoring the pain of the gunshot wound in his thigh.

Mariana brought both arms up in a wide circle to break his surprisingly weak hold on her shoulders and stumbled back to give herself room to take up a fighting stance. If he wanted to fight, then she would damn well fight because this time at least she wasn't strapped to a table and was able to defend herself.

Her calf was on fire though.

He grinned and took a similar stance.

Mariana found herself playing defensive for what seemed like a very long time. She was parrying jabs and crosses almost constantly. Only a few times did she have to block a kick or two but still. So she played the defensive role until he slowed in his attacks and she took the opportunity.

After parrying yet another jab with her right hand, she threw an uppercut of her own back at him. He was just barely able to block in time but it gave Mariana the chance to press the offensive. And so it was her turn to throw a few blows. He caught her by the forearm and applied the pressure needed to force her to twist so that her back was to him. He pretty much instantly went for a chokehold.

A chokehold she had been shown by Natasha as a demonstration of what _not_ to do.

Markus had his right arm around her neck with his left hand on the back of her head and his right hand on the inside of his left elbow for leverage.

She reached back and grabbed his left hand, pulling it away from her head and out in front of them before then pulling it up and over her head to the other side, making it impossible for him to hold the choke as she easily twisted out from under his right arm.

His lips twisted into a snarl of anger as he threw haphazard but powerful blows at her, some of which she was able to avoid, others which met their mark. She considered taking out her switchblade from where it was attached to her belt but hidden by her jacket for all of two seconds. If Markus managed to get a hold of it then she would be screwed. She was intimately aware of how good the man was with knives.

But she was starting to feel like it might be her only choice.

"Give up, Mari," he taunted when he had her on the floor.

She was pinned on her stomach with Markus holding her right arm in an iron-clad grip where it was twisted behind her back, hand almost between her shoulder blades. Her left hand was free and had previously been scrabbling behind her, trying to find a way out of the hold. But something about what he said just _pissed her off_.

"You don't get to _fucking_ call me that," she growled right as she flicked the blade out and slashed in his general direction.

It was haphazard at best but she must have got him as he hissed in pain and immediately sprung off of her, allowing her to clamber to her feet, holding the knife out in front of her defensively.

But he was already charging at her, making a grab for the knife as they both stumbled but managed to stay on their feet. It became kind of a blur as Mariana moved mechanically, her only thought being _do not let him get the knife_ , but a series of elbow jabs and knees later and it was her blood on the knife as well.

Markus shoved her backwards as he yanked the blade out of her midsection painfully.

Her hands immediately covered the wound as tears of pain sprung to her eyes and she fought off the agonised groan trying to claw its way out of her.

Instead, she grit her teeth and glared at the smug bastard.

"Now, now," he tutted, "I believed you were smarter than this. I'm disappointed in you."

Mariana felt her lips pull up into a snarl. "Sorry, I think Steve pulls that look off better than you."

 _Have to get the knife back._

 _Have to get the knife back._

 _Have to get the-_

Markus lunged at her and slashed at her arm. She tried to twist out of the way but in doing so lost her footing and went down. At the last second she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him with her, twisting so that she was on top of him when they landed. She wasted no time and getting a hold on the knife he still held tight and twisted it towards him, putting all of her weight on it.

The blade's tip edged closer and closer to his chest, right above the space where a heart would be if he had one. Just as the tip met it's mark his struggles for control of the weapon doubled and the ensuing grapple for control resulted in the knife being slashed to the right, opening up a long gash in his skin.

He made a pained noise but continued to fight, punching her in the gut – almost directly on top of her knife wound – and snatching back the weapon while she was bent double. He reversed their positions and it was Mariana struggling to angle the edge of the blade away from her throat.

He was slightly stronger than her so she knew it was a risk but it was the only way she saw herself getting out with her throat intact.

She took one hand off the knife.

It instantly came dangerously close to slicing open her jugular, merely nicking the skin as she dodged her head to the side in an attempt to escape the threat. At the same time, she reached up with her free hand and slammed the palm of her hand upwards into his nose.

The crack of his nose breaking that rang in her ears was quite possibly the most satisfying sound she could ever wish to hear.

She felt a few drops of blood land on her face as he eased up on the knife and focussed on his face, allowing her to twist out from under him, shoving him to the side as she sprang to her feet – studiously ignoring the pain in both her abdomen and leg - taking the knife they had fought over with her and throwing it to the other side of the room as hard as she could.

"Bitch!" he shouted as he clutched at his broken nose. Mariana said nothing and instead advanced towards him and slammed her foot down on his face. Or would have. If he hadn't caught her ankle and dragged her back down to the concrete floor.

From there the two grappled for the upper hand, neither wanting to allow the other to get their feet under them first. It could have been hours they fought for or mere moments. Punches were thrown. Elbows were used a lot, a few knees. Eventually, Markus had Mariana pinned on her stomach again and she was getting goddamn sick of this guy having the upper hand.

"Come on, Mari," he leaned right in and spoke in her ear, spitting her nickname like a curse. "Everybody breaks, face it, it's your turn."

The strain on her wounds was immensely painful and she needed to _get out_ so instead of answering she threw her head back with a grunt and at the same time put everything she had into pushing her upper body off the ground enough to roll out from under him once more. She learnt her lesson from the last time though and didn't go far, coming back behind him quickly were he sat, hunched over and fuming, on the ground.

She slid in behind him and, before he could react, wrapped her legs around his hips so that her feet met between his legs for leverage. While he was preoccupied with what her legs were doing, Mariana snaked her right arm around his neck and placed that hand behind his shoulder. He brought his left hand up to try to pull her hand away but she used her own left to shove his hand away before slipping her left arm over her right wrist to touch her own right shoulder with her left hand, holding the choke as she tucked her chin in over her arm and squeezed.

Immediately, Markus began to struggle for air but she held the chokehold to the best of her ability until he finally started to lose consciousness.

She considered holding it for a while longer.

If she held it long enough, she could kill him.

She could be free of him.

She'd also be just like him.

So She let him go.

When she was sure he was out, she released the hold and moved out from behind him, ignoring the large patch of blood on his uniform transferred from her own wound. She waited a few minutes - breathing hard and applying constant pressure to her abdomen - until he started to come to and aimed a punch at his temple to knock him out again. She quickly checked all three men to ensure they were still alive and found a pair of cuffs on Daniels which she quickly decided to use on Markus as she stashed the key in her pocket after ensuring he was secured to a sturdy pipe.

With that, she felt for the buzz of her abilities to find it was relatively strong and was about to teleport herself back to Midtown where the others had been fighting when the door Markus, Daniels and the other guy had entered through however-long-ago was thrown right off its hinges.

Mariana felt hazy enough with the blood loss, probable concussion and waring off of adrenaline that it took her a moment to recognise the Norse God sprinting across the room towards her.

When she did she smiled as best as she could and collapsed into his arms without hesitation the second he was close enough.

He was saying something, telling her things as he carried her out of the facility, not bothering to even acknowledge the bodies of unconscious HYDRA agents littering the hallways.

It didn't even come to mind until later that none of them had responded to the struggles in the control room. None of them had come to Markus' aid.

None of it really registered.

She just kept her hands on her wound and closed her eyes, listening to the rumble of his voice as Thor cradled her as close to his chest as he could without hurting her.

One word she caught and she clung to it like a lifeline.

Home.

The fog in her brain cleared as the cool air hit her when they stepped outside – or he stepped – and Mariana came back to herself a little. She knew passing out at this point was inevitable but she might be able to same Thor some effort.

"You have no idea how very glad I am to see you Thundercat."

He smiled indulgently down at her, ignoring the reference he didn't understand. "And I, my lady. Let us get you home, hmm?"

"I can take us, just…just give me a minute to focus." The God of Thunder waited patiently as she closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder. It took a few moments of concentration on her part before he felt the familiar tingling of her abilities taking effect and found himself stood in her apartment's living room.

JARVIS automatically brought up the lights so that he could see better and the sight of how injured his little sister really was had Thor practically sprinting towards the elevator that was already opening up for them.

"Home?" Mariana mumbled against his armour.

"Yes, home. You fought bravely Mariana, now just stay awake. I believe it would be unwise to sleep now."

"'Kay." But even as she said it her head was lolling to the side and her eyelids were fluttering closed.

The elevator opened and Thor was already moving, asking quite loudly where he should bring Mariana and _no he will not just be handing her over he will bring her to her room himself thank you very much._

His himself spent very little time in Medical for injuries but he recognised the urgency with which the medical personnel spoke over each other while they attacked various wires and machines to his little sister's prone form caused the dire nature of the situation to hit home for him.

Which is probably why The God of Thunder didn't fight back as he was pushed into a room with the rest of his team and the Lady Pepper.

 **. . .**

 **One more chapter to go and I'm not sure how to feel about it...**

 **But...yeah...**

 **Oops?...Again?**


	18. Chapter 18: A Hero Awakens

**Endings are hard. I know if I had have stared at this chapter long enough I would eventually convince myself the entire story was wrong.**

 **So here it is.**

 **. . .**

To be honest, Mariana doesn't remember a lot from being unconscious.

She barely remembered passing out in Thor's arms in the first place never mind the blissful ignorance that came afterwards. Waking up would be good. Some part of her knew it would be good to wake up, let her family know that yes, she was actually still alive. She could also see for herself that all of them were also still living.

But then she stopped thinking altogether and just let herself sleep.

She could deal with the world some other time.

. . .

"I do not believe this to be good."

These were not terribly comforting words from the God of Thunder.

Pepper - ever the level-headed one - told him it was okay and gave him a large pair of scrubs that she had procured from God-knows-where before pointing to the adjoined bathroom, indicating he should clean himself up.

He did so with a brief nod of thanks.

"She's okay," Natasha stated with confidence. Only Tony seemed acknowledged her.

"Yeah? And how are you so sure?"

"Tony –"

"She has to be," Clint answered for the red-head perched on the end of his bed.

"She's a tough little cookie," Sam added with an attempt at a smile. All he got was a small sigh from Bucky as the man settled back in his bed but didn't look any more comfortable.

"I can hear her breathing through the walls," Daredevil confirmed, "She's still alive. Right now, that is all that has to matter Stark."

. . .

Another hour passed before any word was given on Mariana's condition.

"She'll live," the doctor started with. The same doctor who checked her over the last time she was in medical. Dr Anderson. "She'll be in a lot of pain for a while and will likely require some physical therapy for her leg and possibly her shoulder too as well as at least six weeks off of active duty. She's frankly quite lucky to be alive after such a beating."

"Her right shoulder is dislocated completely this time, not a near miss like several weeks ago. It'll be weak and as I said will possibly require physio. A bullet grazed her right calf as well and while it wasn't a serious wound, it bled for some time and was exposed to a lot of dirt and grime in that forest so we want to watch out for any sign of infection there. She also has a concussion that, to be honest, I'm surprised isn't more severe.

"Outside of that she has two broken ribs and about four more are bruised on top of multiple other minor contusions and defensive wounds." He turned to Clint in particular then. "As her emergency contact I believe it is up to you whether she is to get a room of her own or if you would like her to be moved in here with you and Sergeant Barnes."

"In here," the archer replied without hesitation.

They all knew having her closer would be best for everyone.

They wanted to be there when she woke up this time.

. . .

When Mariana was finally set up in the room and all of the nurses had left, everyone was stuck in a state of wanting to go to her - check for themselves that she was okay - and not wanting to crowd her or break the spell that had fallen on them all.

Together, they seemed to hold their breath until Daredevil - still dressed in his full gear, even with the cowl because only Natasha knew – crossed the room in four long strides, coming to a stop at the side of her bed.

He tugged off his right glove to reveal bruised and cut up knuckles. His hand hovered, almost unsure, over her left one before encasing her wrist and searching for her pulse.

He knew she was alive.

He could hear the heart monitor beeping.

Could hear her heart itself beating.

But feeling it underneath his fingertips and confirming that _yes, she is alive_ with more than just one sense, feeling the thrum of her abilities gently in the air currents around her and underneath her skin: that was so much better.

Seemingly to himself, the man in red nodded once, pulled his glove on again and reached out with his senses one last time before striding out of the room leaving only a "Call me when she wakes up," behind.

More than one of the Avengers were ready to protest, demand to know why he was just leaving, demand to know why he would abandon someone he so obviously cares about as much as they do.

But Natasha simply nodded and said, "I will," which effectively shut them all up.

. . .

Tony had Dum-ee come up from the lab with some tools and the prototype for Bucky's new arm. Well, he called it a prototype but he knew it was ready for immediate use. It was quite a lot like the last one, Bucky had refused to let him upgrade the arm much so he didn't get to add any flashy toys.

He kept up a running commentary as he worked repair the metal socket and attach the arm into its place. Few people payed much attention to what he talked about but Bruce was more than happy to steer him back onto the lighter topics or throw a scientific debate out there or ask a question when Tony veered onto the topic of the current situation.

Because none of them wanted to acknowledge what was happening around them.

None of them wanted to acknowledge that every one of them was injured in some form, three of them laid up in bed and only two of those three awake.

So Tony worked and Tony talked and eventually the tension in the room lifted enough for the others to say their piece as well.

. . .

Pepper was scarily persuasive when she wanted to be and if they were all going to be staying in that room until Mariana woke up – and they most certainly weren't leaving – then at least a few of them deserved to be comfortable.

So ten minutes after Pepper and one of the nurses had 'words' an extra bed laden with pillows and blankets was brought into the, thankfully rather large, room.

It didn't take much more than a _look_ from Pepper and a _look_ from Steve for Sam to sit up on the bed with his leg resting on a pillow. After only one yawn, Pepper even found herself on the receiving end of one of the Captain's _looks_ as she was ushered to lay down beside Sam and sleep for a while.

Because Pepper was definitely family and right now every single one of them was hyperactively protecting their strange little family from any threat.

And that included the nightmare that was exhaustion.

And after Tony's slightly joking insistence – to everyone's amusement - several pillows were stuffed between the two adults and Pepper was asleep relatively quickly.

. . .

Hill appeared at some point, apologetically asking Steve about making a statement to the public as one of them usually did after their involvement in practically anything these days.

Steve, however, glanced down at Mariana's unconscious form from where he was stood beside her bed and knew he didn't want to leave that room until she opened her eyes. Bruce suggested they provide a written statement on this occasion and Hill immediately agreed.

So Steve conceded and wrote out a quick statement.

He decided to keep it simple and vague.

Condolences to the families of those who lost anyone.

An apology for any damages and a promise to help rebuild.

Thanks for the co-operation of both the police force, Spider-Man and Daredevil.

A request for privacy in their own time of recovery with several injured because the public deserved to know in case they were needed again soon.

And something just a touch motivational about standing together in their time of need to finish.

The statement was shown about an hour later on the news but the anchor didn't linger on that particular aspect of the day's – had it really only been a day? – events.

. . .

 _"_ _Many of us in the past have been on the fence about the role of The Avengers in the World,"_ The reporter shown on the television was stood in a large hall filled with people. He looked somewhat familiar.

Clint groaned.

Everybody stiffened up.

 _"_ _Today though, I think it is safe to say that few in this room are questioning their role as our heroes."_

"That," Sam mused, "is not the usual response."

"Shh."

 _"_ _Today, we have no doubt. Earlier, in a statement released to the press, it was confirmed that the perpetrators of the acts in Midtown this afternoon where none other than HYDRA and an organisation by the name of A.I.D. It is not yet clear what their intention were with the attack but we can be fairly sure that they did not succeed thanks to the intervention of The Avengers._

 _"_ _The heroes worked tirelessly to protect us and our city to the best of their ability and one hero in particular saved hundreds of lives today. 296 lives to be exact."_ The Avengers were captivated as the camera panned out to show two teenage girls stood beside the male reporter. One of them held a young boy in her arms as her friend fussed over him. Both had tears glistening in their eyes.

 _"_ _We were there. One of those…things rammed into a car and sent it flying into a building. A bunch of the bricks came off and…well…we saw Samuel here get trapped and we just couldn't leave him. But we couldn't get him out. We were so scared that we wouldn't be able to help,"_ The one holding the kid – Samuel – said.

The other girl looked up from making faces at him and smiled shyly. _"Then Quantum showed up,"_ she said, _"From no-where. We could tell that she wasn't there for the fight; she wasn't wearing her uniform. She was just there to help people."_ She looked down as Samuel and her smile grew. _"And she saved Samuel here, she saved everyone that she could."_

The two girls shared a look before the first girl turned to the camera again with tears freely running down her cheeks. " _I don't think any one of us can say that we aren't grateful. She's the reason we can stand here and talk to you. She's the reason Samuel can go back to his family. She's a hero and…If you're watching this…"_

 _"_ _Thank you,"_ her friend finished when it became clear she could not continue.

The image on the screen shifted to pan over the entire hall – a church hall they now realised – where people were reuniting with loved ones, crying, hugging, kissing. Living. Then the camera settled back on the lone reporter.

 _"_ _As you can see, there are no doubts today who the real heroes are. So from all of us, I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Quantum and the rest of the Avengers. Without them, we would be 296 less. I've been Damien Ross and you're watching Channel six news."_

"Finally," A voice croaked. "'Bout time someone recognised how awesome we are."

Natasha was at Mariana's side instantly, joining Tony who was already sitting in a chair beside her bed on his tablet.

It was almost hilarious to watch the younger woman look at them with one eye peaked open, a lopsided grin that bordered on a grimace and a scratchy request for a cup of water.

After the stress of the day, can you blame the lot of them for laughing?

. . .

It was – as Anderson had suggested – just over six months until Mariana was cleared by medical for going back into the field.

But Steve – damn him – and the others – damn them too – had refused to clear her even after that. She knew they were just being extra protective of her and honestly, she couldn't exactly blame them.

It'd been one hell of a year.

For now though, she just decided to enjoy being alive.

Mariana found the bustling of New York below her to be calming in a sense. People were going about their daily lives. No one was needing saving. No one was in danger. And if they were, well, she would obviously get involved. But for now, it was peaceful on her chosen roof top in New York.

So what if technically, Mariana still wasn't allowed into the field?

She wasn't housebound.

Well…not anymore.

Steve wasn't an idiot. He knew that if she was just out and about during the day there was nothing stopping her from being a hero all on her own. Medically, she had been cleared for duty three weeks previously but Captain America was being stubbornly over-protective. As were the rest of her family.

Karen and Foggy would be more than happy to wrap her up in bubble wrap and lock her in a padded room if they thought it would do anything to keep her out of trouble. Tony also seemed to be on board with such an idea.

Natasha, Bucky and Matt were all insisting that since her physio was finished she needed to get in more training before she would be up to scratch again. (Mariana hadn't exactly minded this. In fact, she had asked them to help her with using her powers in a close quarters fight more effectively.)

Sam was making up excuses that she should take some more time to recover psychologically from her encounter with Markus, her previous tormenter.

Clint and Bruce had both told her that as long as she felt she was ready then they would respect her decisions but she could see from his body language that Clint was totally on board with never letting her leave the Tower ever again. Bruce however, seemed to be telling the truth, even if he was slightly uncomfortable with her being in harm's way again.

It was frustrating really, because she knew she was ready. She'd been less prepared before and she knew that there was plenty she could do in the field to make fights easier on the others. But she also knew fighting them on this was pointless until the lot of them decided they was ready to grow a collective pair. So to speak.

"Incoming!"

Mariana teleported back a few feet just in time to avoid the spider swinging right by her face.

"Dammit! I'll get you one day."

"Keep dreaming Spider-Boy."

"It's Spider- _Man_. You know, half spider, half man."

"Oh you're _half_ man alright. So, what are we eating today?"

She could practically see Spider-Man grinning through his mask. It had become a regular thing since Mariana was allowed out of the tower for the two to meet up on a roof somewhere in the neighbourhood and the spandex-clad hero had taken to sending the teleporter all over the globe for lunch. Although it was never something fancy. He literally gave her co-ordinates once to a McDonalds in India and ordered _the exact same thing he always does_.

But it was good exercise. So she humoured him.

"I'm feeling like Pizza today."

Mariana raised an eyebrow. "The Italian place?"

"Yup. Oh, and I am particularly famished this afternoon…"

"Yeah, yeah I'll get you two of them; greedy fucking spider."

"Hey! I am a growing boy! Man!"

Twenty minutes later the two were sat on the edge of the roof, looking out over the city with an open pizza box between them.

"They're like overbearing parents! I mean, I know I always say they're family but, I meant in a sibling kind of way. My experience with parental figures has been pretty shitty – the last guy I considered a father figure got shot by a terrorist organisation so I'm kind of done with parentals in my life. The team, well, I don't know. They just need to lay off. I'm twenty now, not fourteen. I can take care of myself."

Spidey swallowed the pizza he'd been chewing and grabbed another slice.

"Maybe they don't want you to have to. They've almost lost you, what? Three times now? Cut 'em some slack."

Mariana scrutinized the webslinger for a minute, making him squirm.

"Have you been consorting with big-brother-Steve behind my back?" Spider-Man shifted and Mariana faced forward, shaking her head. "So rude. How dare you."

He chuckled and nudged her shoulder.

"Captain America is scary."

Mariana laughed pretty hard at that.

"Steve? I mean, he has that disappointed frown that is more effective than he should ever have been made aware but scary? Only if you're on the receiving end of a punch I guess."

"Okay so Captain America isn't so scary. But everywhere he goes, Barnes follows. And Barnes _is_ scary. Really scary." He gave an over dramatic shiver.

Mariana snorted and looked out over the city again. "Barnes is a teddy bear."

"I wish I had your perspective on things but no. Barnes is terrifying, especially when he looms. Very good at looming that man."

"Okay, that I can agree with."

"He just stands there being all tall, dark and…yeah, tall and dark.

Mariana laughed again and disappeared to dispose of the now empty pizza boxes, returning to find her friend preparing to return to his patrols.

Which happened to be the exact moment Mariana's cell phone rang. It was Steve. Spider-Man may have lingered when he realised this.

Such a fanboy.

"Avengers' Express speaking, how may I help you?"

Steve sighed. "I have a job for you." He sounded like he was being held at gunpoint just to get the words out.

"Like…a job, job?"

"Yes. I need you to pick someone up so that we can have a…chat."

"Cool. Send me the details and I'll get started."

"Alright."

There were sounds of a scuffle and a new voice came over the line.

"I am _not_ a teddy bear."

Spider-Man, eavesdropping with his enhanced hearing, grinned under the mask.

"Yes you are, Bucky. Have you bugged me by the way? Rude."

"And I _do not_ loom."

"You are the King of looming my friend. You're also the King of avoidance apparently."

He grumbled and hung up, leaving Mariana trying to hold in her laughter while Spider-Man full on laughed, pretending to wipe his eyes behind his mask. Then her cell beeped and Mariana checked out the information.

"Ooh, gossip. What's the dealio?" He tried to read over Mariana's shoulder but she moved away.

Mariana shrugged. "Just a name, co-ordinates and a time."

"Mysterious. You ever heard of them?"

She shook her head. "Some guy named Wade Wilson."

Spider-Man snorted. "Oh, Cap is cruel. If you find yourself needing your own hero for this one – which is possible – do _not_ call me." With that, he threw himself off the building, laughing manically to himself as he went.

"Please, I _am_ a hero."

 **. . .**

 **I couldn't resist the cheese...**

 **Also: DEADPOOL!**

 **Yay! First one-shot will probably pick up right after this for Mariana to meet our favourite mercenary.**

 **I love you guys.**

 **-Emma**


End file.
